On a String
by Winter's Realm
Summary: (To understand, you must look deeper- and remember that every dancing puppet is manipulated by a string). Kai returns successful from a solo mission, but he's changed completely and no one knows why. Now, as team leader, Cole faces his biggest challenge yet: to save Kai before it's too late. But what does he need saving from? And…how far should you go for just one person? No slash.
1. Return

**On a String.**

**A/N: Hey guys! First Ninjago fanfic! *grins excitedly*. Yay! Just a quick warning- It is going to be angsty in parts and there will be violence, as well as mentions of torture and OC death. Y'know, that sort of fun stuff. ****This story does deserve it's T rating. If you don't like gangs, violence and crime, then don't read. I don't think it's going to be too bad, but I'm only one person judging my own work. **

**Those who are into this sort of thing, do enjoy! :) **

**I don't own Ninjago (property of Lego) or 'Lost in Paradise' (which belongs to Evanescence).**

* * *

_As much as I'd like the past not to exist  
It still does  
And as much as I'd like to feel like I belong here  
I'm just as scared as you  
_**_-'Lost in Paradise' by Evanescence_**

* * *

Every step he took raised a puff of dry dust, the sand swirling around his feet and coating his once black boots a grey clayish color. Sweat trickled down his face, dampening his clothes and making the material stick to his overheated body.

_(Heat). _

Kai gave a small cough, expelling some sandy desert debris from his mouth. He hated the way the sand gritted between his teeth. It made an awful crunching noise. He spat out another mouthful and cursed. How much further away was the Bounty from his position? It felt like he had been wandering in this God forsaken Sea of Sand for eternity.

As he wandered slowly over a bank of sand, one foot got caught and he stumbled abruptly, putting out on hand on the desert sand to push himself back up.

The sand was (burningly) hot.

He hurriedly stood, retracting his hand as quickly as he could.

_(There was a soft chuckle as the smoke glided around him. "It burns, doesn't it, ninja?")_

Kai flinched fearfully, rolling his shoulders and losing the straps on his bag.

_("You're… afraid, ninja.")_

No! No, he wasn't! Memories clung to him like his sweaty clothes, suffocating him in their intensity. But they wouldn't control him.

Kai paused and gave another weak cough. The Bounty had better be nearby. He was not going to be able to hold on for much longer. There was no water left in the canteen his ripped rucksack held. He had drunken the last drop some half hour ago and now had nothing left_._ Giving a small shrug, the ninja pulled the small bag off his shoulders and dumped it on the ground. There was no point in continuing to carry it. Kai continued to walk forward, leaving the worn bag lying in the dusty sand behind him. Vaguely, he wondered why he had kept carrying it for the past half hour when it contained nothing which would help him in any way out here. Perhaps it was the sense of comfort that the bag had brought. It may not be another person, but at least it made Kai feel like he wasn't completely on his own.

Kai kicked one boot through a pile of sand, snorting as he watched the dust swirl away. It was pretty sad that he had been looking to an old ripped bag- of all things- as a source of comfort. How many times did he need to learn the lesson that you shouldn't ever get too comfortable? If you were comfortable, then either something was wrong or it was going to go wrong very quickly. He should know that.

Another cough. This one was drier, raspier, than the ones which had preceded it. The time he had left to find the Bounty was rapidly running out. Trying to walk forward faster, before dehydration kicked in and took over completely, Kai stumbled onward with the last of his will power. He didn't even known if he was travelling in the right direction. All his effort could be for nothing, and he'd never find his way back home.

_(Home?)_

_("You don't have a home anymore, Ninja. You're mine now.")_

The color of the desert swirled around him, and he felt so hot _(like he was burning_). Very little made sense, as visible heat waves of hot air danced across the Bounty-less horizon. What was happening again? Why had he come here? There had to be a reason other than death, but right now his mind was working too slowly to think of it.

With a small grunt, Kai finally fell to his knees. So this was how it all ended. Well, he wasn't too sure what 'all' was referring to. His life, maybe? That was okay. It had never seemed really important to him, anyway.

He closed his eyes and fell backwards onto the burning sand, landing right next to the rucksack he had abandoned almost half an hour ago.

* * *

"….Hence why different people react in different ways to poison," Nya explained as she pointed at a diagram of a snake. Jay was watching with interest-mostly because it was his girlfriend teaching the lesson- Cole was drawing and a bored Zane was trying to look like he was somewhat interested in the lesson. "We all have different DNA in our genes, which means that people react to changes in their body- such as snake venom entering their blood stream- differently," she said, pointing at another diagram- this one was of a chromosome with a section of DNA enlarged so everyone could read the base pairs and see how they made up the DNA polymer.

Cole lent back in his chair and yawned. Nya raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Cole, what's a gene-" she was cut off as a small chiming noise began to sound through the bridge. She frowned. "The radar has picked up movement. Someone is coming our way."

Nya's hands flew over the controls as she brought up the radar on the larger screen so everyone could see. "Funny," she commented. "Whoever this is, I don't think they pose a threat to us. They're wandering in circles. Look at that," she pointed to a small dot on the screen.

Abruptly, the dot stopped moving.

"Who is this?" Jay asked as Nya ran a search for snakes through the scanner. It came out clear.

"I have no idea," she replied. "I could try and widen the search. It could be someone else we know- maybe Cole's dad or something."

Cole's eyes widened. "It's unlikely. I don't think he'd just come here. But if that's my dad, then we've got to hurry. He's not moving,"

The scan ran through, and a small bleeping announced that the person had been identified. Everyone stared at the screen as the image of a figure appeared.

"Kai? He's meant to be in Ninjago, working undercover to stop the Puppeteers gang." Zane mused. "What's he doing out here?" he asked, looking at the smiling, spiky haired image of his team mate. When the picture had been taken, Jay had been pulling faces and spiking his hair in an attempt to get Kai to laugh and ruin the photo.

Nya shrugged. "No clue. But he needs help, quickly. I'll go out and grab him," she replied, running down the hall to get her Samurai gear.

* * *

Waking up was the worst part of losing consciousness. To lose consciousness was to lose control over what happened to you. Anything could happen, while you were blissfully unaware.

And then you woke up and found everything had turned to chaos.

Kai didn't open his eyes. That would alert whoever had captured him to the fact that he was awake. Instead, he used his other senses. He could tell that he was no longer in the desert- it wasn't as dry or sandy as he remembered. That meant someone had moved him. But who were they? A friend or an enemy? He could hear voices murmuring around him. He must be surrounded- and that was not good.

Then someone placed a hand on his shoulder and he couldn't help it. Panic flooded through him and Kai leapt up from where he had been lying on some sort of table. Although uncertain about why he hadn't been tied down to the table this time, the Ninja didn't hesitate. There was a door on the other side of the room and he bolted toward it. Someone ordered for him to stop, but Kai ignored the instruction and kept moving.

He couldn't let himself get caught. They'd punish him if he didn't manage to escape right now. Disobedience was not tolerated- and he had already defied them twice recently. His adrenaline surged as he raced out the door, finding himself in a hallway.

There was no time to ask for directions. Winging it, he took a left, his heart pounding as his feet thumped against the wooden floor. He had to get out of here, _now_. Before they chained him back up, before the nightmare began again, before his hoped died.

"Kai! Stop!"

Never. They wouldn't take him, not this time.

"Brother, why are you running?"

To get away from them, of course! They were the cat, he the mouse. This was how the game was played. Run from the predator, and you might live.

"Dude, we're not going to hurt you! Get back here! You need medical attention!"

Like heck they weren't going to hurt him. What had they spent the past three weeks doing to him?

He dashed around a corner, listening as the thud of their feet gradually closed in on him_ ("Face it, ninja. You're trapped,")._ Kai stopped. He had reached a dead end. No! They would capture him, and then there'd be no way back.

The footsteps slowed behind him, and he knew he had been spotted. They weren't hurried; they had him right where they wanted him.

_In their power. _

He couldn't turn to face them- to face all his hope dying. It really was pitiful _("You're pathetic!") _to be so afraid_,_ but he just didn't have the energy to feel embarrassed with himself.

Weakly, he stumbled.

"Just relax, Kai. It's okay," someone took his arm, supporting his swaying body and turning him to face the rest of the group.

He blinked.

Cole stood in front of him- his grasp on his arm the only thing keeping him upright. Behind the Earth Ninja, was an assembled group of the team mates he'd never thought he would see again.

Nya's eyes were wideas she took him in and Jay looked confused. Zane looked startled, while Lloyd was mildly panicked. Only Sensei Wu looked unruffled.

"Oh," was the only thing he managed to say.

"You're on the Bounty," Cole said gently. "Where did you think you were?"

"Nowhere," Kai mumbled softly, staring at the ground.

Cole gently rested a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get you back to the sick bay,"

Immediately, Kai stiffened and paled visibly. "Don't touch me!" He cried, throwing himself away from the (controlling) hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Cole asked as his friend backed up against the wall, an uncharacteristic fear swimming in Kai's eyes. Cole held up his hands placidly. "I'm not going to hurt you, Kai. What's going on? This isn't like you,"

Everyone looked at Kai tensely. He shuffled awkwardly, not liking the feeling of all those eyes on him.

"Uh…haha yeah. Just, um…yea…don't mind me,"

Frowning, Nya walked forward. "Let's just…go to the sick bay," she said, gesturing for her brother to follow her. Kai nodded and followed, leaving the rest of the team standing in the hallway behind him.

Once he had gone, Cole looked at Sensei worriedly. "What just happened? That was so unlike Kai,"

Jay nodded. "I've never seen him like that before. Did you see it? He was completely freaking out,"

Zane frowned. "That was most uncharacteristic of him. I think that this had something to do with his mission,"

"No, really? Maybe he just woke up and decided to get lost in the desert and then freak out in front of his team mates," Jay shot back sarcastically.

Tapping the ground with his staff to get the ninja's attention, Sensei Wu spoke. "He told us that everything went well- the Puppeteer's leader was dealt with and the gang has broken up now. He never said anything about things going wrong. We'll need to watch him to find out what happened,"

The three ninja all nodded, all more than slightly alarmed at the state of their team mate.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. And yes, Kai is deliberately out of character. You'll find out why in future chapters (well, when I have time to actually write them). Got any comments or constructive criticism? Do tell! I don't bite! :)**


	2. Listen

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed of faved! You're all so amazing! Thanks for your feedback.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Ninjago, I wouldn't be doing exams or half-heartedly convincing my mother that Fan fiction is a great way to study for an English exam right now. So yeah. She didn't buy it. But at least I got this chapter up before she caught me! Haha! I don't own Ninjago or 'Live Free or Let Me Die'. **

* * *

_Do you remember how_

_You became who you are now?_

_Do you remember how_

_It felt to breathe without_

_Gasping with all your might?_

_**-'Live Free or Let Me Die' by Skillet.**_

* * *

"Way to go, bro. You're extremely dehydrated, your arms are covered in bruises and there's a huge slice mark on your face. What the heck did you think you were doing wandering around in the desert? You're lucky you survived," Nya admonished lightly as she examined the cut which ran across her brother's left cheek.

Kai's eyes narrowed and he moved away from his sister. "Finding you guys," he replied shortly.

Putting the antiseptic she had been holding down onto a bench, Kai's younger sister turned around. "What's wrong with calling us to pick you up?" She asked, noticing for the first time the hard look in Kai's eyes. Usually, Nya was good at reading her brother's expression- they had lived with each other for their entire lives after all. But today, his expression was completely unreadable. Those eyes took in much more than they gave away. Without recognizing it, Nya gave a small shudder.

The Ninja scowled. "It was… complicated getting out here. The less people involved, the better," If he had seen Nya shudder, he didn't say anything.

Nya rolled her eyes and grinned. "Nah, I think you just wanted to play the hero, and rescue yourself," she teased gently in an attempt to get Kai to lighten up.

Kai shook his head. "I'm no hero," he replied, standing up and walking out of the room.

"Hey! I'm not finished!" Nya called after her brother's retreating figure, waving a bottle of antiseptic in the air to emphasize her point.

A curt "I am," was all she got in reply.

* * *

Everything felt so wrong. He didn't feel like he belonged here. Worse still, he had forgotten _how_ to belong here. Kai walked down a corridor, away from the sick bay and out onto the Bounty's deck. Cole and Zane were sparring while Jay and Lloyd enthusiastically cheered the two ninja on, awarding points for particularly 'awesome' moves.

Silently, Kai moved across the deck, in full view of the four ninja but never once getting seen. How could they be so happy? Unworried? How did they smile and laugh like that? He sat down in the shade of the Bounty's prow, watching everyone else grin and prance around.

_("You don't belong to their world anymore, Fireboy. They're better off without you,")_

Where did he belong, then?

_("You're mine now," a flash of light, a scream, the smell of burning, hands clawing at empty air-)_

Kai jerked backwards, rolling one shoulder as he recoiled. No. He wasn't there anymore, wasn't their prisoner. He was safe.

_(Safe?)_

What a foreign word.

Giving a small sigh, Kai settled back down and watched as Jay and Lloyd began to spar. The blue ninja started out with a punch before bringing his nun chucks around in an arc towards Lloyd's head.

_Too slow_, Kai thought critically as Lloyd stepped backwards, bringing his staff up in a blocking technique. The Green Ninja would have done better to duck and retaliate with his staff instead. Now, his abdomen was exposed, both hands occupied with holding the staff up horizontally. Jay could easily nail him with a side kick, or another punch. However, the blue ninja did neither; instead he chose to spin around, flicking his nun chucks away from the staff and rolling backwards.

Kai raised one eyebrow at the sloppiness of the two ninjas' moves. As the fight progressed, Lloyd stumbled clumsily several times, and Jay never took advantage of the distraction. Jay really needed to work on his attacking skills, and Lloyd certainly needed to work on defense and retaliation. His guard was extremely careless- especially on his left side- and he provided Jay with a huge number of openings, which the blue ninja never took, of course.

After several more minutes, the two Ninja stopped and there was an exchange of sparring partners. Jay joined Cole on the side lines as Zane squared up against Lloyd. The Nindroid proved to be a better match for the younger ninja. He at least pressed his attack, making Lloyd think about keeping his guard up properly. Zane moved a lot more precisely than Jay had, as well. The blue ninja was energetic and joyful – both good personality qualities, Kai reflected- but he continually let that distract him and needed to think more about the situation at hand. By contrast, Zane was tidy and controlled. However, too much of that good thing was…well, not so good. The Nindroid looked a little stiff when he executed several moves. He had amazing techniques, but just needed to flow more. If a fighter didn't flow when they fought, then it was easy to lose momentum and let the opposition gain the upper hand by exploiting that weakness.

"Good evening, Kai," the ninja was interrupted from his thoughts and looked up to Sensei Wu walking out of the doorway next to where he was sitting.

"Good evening, Sensei," Kai replied, noticing the fading light for the first time as the sun sunk behind the desert sand. He expected his teacher to keep walking, but was surprised when the Master sat down next to him instead.

There was a small silence between teacher and student before Sensei spoke again. "It's most unlike you to sit down and observe," he noted.

"That's…very observant of you, Sensei," Kai replied. Normally, it would have been said jokingly, served with a smile and earning a groan from anyone who overheard. But this time, his tone was empty, bordering on dull.

"So, what have you noticed?" the Master asked.

Kai paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, not noticing the slight frown flicker across Sensei Wu's features. "Well, everyone has a fighting style very much like their personality. Jay's energetic, but that can lead to him making careless mistakes and missing openings in his opponent's defense. Lloyd is a bit more reckless, but he forgets to use his guard properly while trying to prove himself and impress everyone else. He needs to learn that a good fighter is skilled at both attack and defense. Zane is very precise, and technically correct with all his moves. But he doesn't flow from each move to the next. For example, he'll be doing a kick with a circular motion, before coming in with a front kick. If he could do two movements with a similar motion, such as a roundhouse and a reverse hook kick, he would be much harder to stop,"

_(Gravity was hard to stop…)_

Sensei Wu nodded, turning to watch as Cole and Jay sparred. "Very observant, Kai. What about Cole's fighting style?"

Kai shifted, scuffing one boot along the ship's deck as he watch the Ninja of Earth spar. "He's very…down to earth I suppose. He's got a rather honest fighting style. He uses his strength to his advantage. The downside of that is he can be a bit too reliant on using power, and that makes it easier to second guess what technique he will use next. Fighting isn't all about strength. Sometimes, you need to be sneaky and agile. A solid punch to the gut and a quick finger strike to the throat both have the same effect of stopping your enemy, but one requires a lot more strength and is a lot easier to see coming than the other,"

_(…Free-fall…)_

Sensei Wu didn't comment-just looked at Kai curiously. The sound of weapons clanging together drifted on the sluggish evening breeze. Eventually, Sensei spoke again. "How did your mission go?"

Kai kept his gaze on the lower deck, watching as the four ninja began to cool down. His face was angled away from his teacher, so the older ninja could only guess Kai's thoughts from the tone of his voice.

"It was successful, Sensei. The Puppeteers have disbanded, and their leader is dead," Kai replied, carefully keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

_(Momentum)_

"I see. So you believe that threat is completely eliminated?" the wise Master questioned.

_(The puppet reached the end of the string-)_

Kai nodded. "I believe so,"

His teacher looked satisfied. "Good work, Kai. Now, I do believe that it is time for dinner. It would do no good to be late and let the others eat everything first."

_(Broken)._

* * *

"Haha, but did you see _my_ back flip? Much higher than Jay's! He barely cleared the ground!" Lloyd laughed as Kai and Sensei Wu walked into the dining room.

"Yes, but you had to expend more energy to reach that height, as you were battling the force of gravity. Therefore, you had less energy for other maneuvers," Zane pointed out as he ate a mouthful of spaghetti.

Lloyd squeezed some more sauce on his pasta. "That makes my move all the more epic, though,"

Ignoring the cheerful chatter, Kai sat down on the end of a bench, next to Lloyd and opposite Nya and Jay. The young couple was too busy talking to notice his presence and the young Green-Ninja-to-be was enjoying entertaining the rest of the group. Kai gave a mental sigh. It hurt a little to watch Lloyd laughing with the rest of the team when he wasn't really part of it. During Kai's month long absence, the bonds between the younger ninja and the rest of the team had obviously strengthened, while the bonds between the fire ninja and everyone else had weakened considerably.

"I liked Cole's move, though. Seriously, that double jumping kick and flip combination was intense!" Lloyd beamed across at the earth ninja.

Cole smiled back. "If you want, I can teach you how to do it tomorrow, kid,"

Kai looked down the table, checking out what was on the menu as Lloyd excitedly carried on about Cole's fighting techniques. As he decided to skip the stringy _(stretched taunt, the marionette hanging underneath the)_ spaghetti and reached for the salad bowl, Kai gave an inaudible snort. It looked like Lloyd had found another Ninja to hero worship.

Kai didn't miss the attention, but he did miss the friendship. Lloyd had been a little brother to him- reading comic books and coming to him in the night when he couldn't sleep after a nightmare. Apparently, the kid had moved on. Kai wondered if Cole had ever been woken up after Lloyd had had a nightmare.

_("You don't belong to their world,")_

"So, Kai, how was your afternoon? I would have asked if you wanted to spar, but I never saw you," Cole said as Lloyd paused to take a drink.

"It was good, thanks." Kai nodded, taking a bite of his salad.

Sensei Wu stood up and tapped the wooden floor with his staff. "Kai was observing you all this afternoon. He's found several weaknesses in each of your fighting styles. Tomorrow, I would like him to explain them, and show you how to improve,"

With one arm around Nya, Jay turned to look up at Sensei and grinned. "Wait, _Kai _was sitting down and _quietly observing_ us? We never saw him!" he raised one disbelieving eyebrow at Kai.

Kai shrugged. "You were busy- you never noticed me,"

There was a brief awkward silence as the four ninja digested this news. A micro expression of disbelief crossed Cole's face as he turned to look down the table at Kai. "So, Kai, how was your mission?"

Wondering why everyone felt it necessary to repeat that particular question- especially when it was none of their damn business _anyway_- Kai took a sip of his drink and replied. "It was successful. The Puppeteers have disbanded and their leader was killed,"

A grinning Jay immediately tried to make light of the situation. "Why on earth would a gang call themselves the Puppeteers? It just makes them sound like a bunch of harmless puppets. That could have almost been a fun mission, Kai. Just going around punching puppets! Sounds awesome!"

_(Suspended on the end of the string. Broken. Broken. Brok-)_

Kai gave another shrug and took another mouthful of salad- but Cole noticed that he didn't reply to the question.

Lloyd was more than a little uncertain about the change in Kai. "Um, Kai…Why are you eating salad? I thought you liked sauce and pasta,"

"Pasta is too mainstream," Kai replied. Lloyd didn't really know whether to grin or not. This new Kai was awkward. Some of the things he said were funny, but delivered in such a way that you didn't know if they were a joke or not.

"Okay," he said, before turning back to face Cole. "By the way, could you also show me that combination you did at the start? You know, the…"

As the Lloyd began to chat to Cole, the Earth Ninja was forced to take his eyes off Kai. When he next turned around, the red Ninja had gone.

And just like when they had been sparring that afternoon, no one had seen him move.

* * *

**Mentally unstable Kai is fun to write. In a really weird, twisted way. Poor guy :( feel so sorry for him. But I'm not done with that spiky haired Ninja yet. Not by a long shot!**

**Thanks for reading! See ya next update!** **Feedback is welcome :)**

**Q&A: **

**Dragonfangz (Guest): Good point! It'll be explained why Kai had to go solo in the next chapter :)**


	3. Tears

**On a String, Chapter Three.**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone :) Enjoy.**

**I don't own Ninjago.**

* * *

_Scared to death to face reality.  
No one seems to hear your hidden cries;  
You're left to face yourself alone.  
But where will you go,_

_(Where will you go?)  
With no one left to save you from yourself?  
You can't escape._

_**-'Where Will You Go' by Evanescence.**_

* * *

_Awkward steps, fearful glances. (He cries quietly as she marches)._

_(…Please stop…)_

_He couldn't save her. (Or himself)._

_No._

_Rain begins to fall; teardrops tumbling slowly downward, glinting across her path like scattered jewels. She regally steps around a small puddle of diamonds, feet leaving slight impressions in the soft ground._

_Up, up, up._

_Her hands are bound._

_(Don't do this!)_

_He watches her die (lifeless eyes)._

_It's another warning, another scream._

_(Another puppet, another string). _

Kai woke with a small gasp, sitting up on his bunk and looking warily around the room.

It was okay. He was safe. _(Safe? Was he so sure about that?)_ Shadows stretched silently across the room like streaks of paint on a canvas. _(Teardrops falling down a face…)._ It was eerie.

_Because there's no light in a shadow; just darkness. Monsters hide in darkness, like puppets in a tangled web of strings. It's where they belong. Concealed. Like secrets._

_And they _watch_ you._

He gave a small shudder and the shadows continued to silently glare at him.

The glowing clock told him that it was way too early to even think about getting up- 3:20am. He sighed. There was no way he was going to go back to sleep. Not after that. But lying here and doing nothing just seemed like such a waste of time as well. With a yawn, the Ninja stood up and walked out of the bunk room, heading out towards the Bounty's deck. He had gotten into a habit of sleeping in his clothes, so didn't bother to get changed.

The air outside was cold (_a_ _blissful respite after the fire_) and the view was beautiful. Tonight, the desert sky was clear, with thousands of stars sprinkled across it. He gave a small smile and began to stretch, preparing to practice his karate kata. A gentle breathe of wind ghosted across the deck as he practiced kicks, feeling, for the first time in a month, finally at peace.

He never saw Lloyd exit the bunkroom after him and watch sadly from the silent shadows of the doorway.

_(Concealed eyes)._

* * *

_-The Next Morning-_

"Okay, I guess we'll start with Jay," Kai said, running a hand through his spiky hair, looking at the four Ninja assembled in front of him and silently cursing Sensei for making him instruct the lesson.

Grinning, Jay stepped forward. "Of course it's a well-known fact that you use the best Ninja first so that the others can watch and learn,"

Kai said nothing, simply gestured for the Lighting Ninja to stand beside him. Jay followed the direction, coming to stand next to his team mate. There was a pause, before the blue Ninja carelessly asked "What happened to your cheek, Kai?"

_("Don't you dare disobey me again, Ninja!" A sharp slash of pain, a stream of crimson…)_

"Does that have anything to do with the lesson?"

"Uh, no," Jay had clearly been expecting some joke along the lines of 'cut myself shaving' and looked taken aback at Kai's abrupt tone.

"Good." Kai nodded coldly (_cold was good, cold was safe. Heat was hot; heat was to be avoided_) at the blue Ninja, missing the slight frown which flickered across Cole's face. "Now, can anyone tell me about any weakness they think Jay's fighting style displays?" There was silence. With a frown, Kai spoke again. "Could we please get Cole to spar him for a couple of minutes? Don't use your Spinjitzu, anyone. This is your weapon and your fighting style only,"

The Earth Ninja nodded, picking up his scythe and approaching Jay, who immediately pulled out his nun-chucks. After bowing to each other, the two Ninja began to circle. When Cole lashed out with his scythe, Jay flipped out of reach. Following up with another sweep of his weapon, Cole put pressure on Jay, effectively chasing the smaller ninja around the deck.

"Stop," Kai commanded, his voice carrying without having to yell. Cole and Jay lowered their weapons, looking at Kai for further instructions. Kai turned to the rest of the group. "Jay has an energetic personality, and this is present in his fighting style. The benefit of this is that he easily dances around Cole's weapon, avoiding getting hit. However, in his enthusiasm, he regularly misses openings, and this means that he often doesn't get the chance to retaliate and finish his opposition,"

The group remained silent while Kai gestured for Jay and Cole to continue to fight. "Look for openings and exploit them this time, Jay. Use your agility and energy to your advantage for both attack and defense. You need to use fewer moves that look 'good', and more that actually work. Don't let Cole chase you around the deck. This is a _fight_, not some competition,"

The two Ninja nodded, resuming the fight. After several more minutes, Kai stopped them again. "Thank you, Jay. You can join the rest of the group. Could we get Zane up here? I want people watching, ready to make comments on Cole and Zane's fighting styles,"

The two Ninja obeyed, Zane taking Jay's place. Kai signaled for the fight to begin, stepping back and watching. Like the previous fight, Cole started things off with a swing of his scythe. Zane was prepared for the move, though, ducking down under the weapon's blade before using a leg sweep to knock Cole to the ground.

The Ninja of Earth recovered fairly quickly, rolling away before Zane could come closer and finish the fight. He got to his feet, and the two Ninja looked at each other across the deck. After a pause, Cole ran forward again, while Zane flicked a Shuriken in his direction. Unprepared for the move, Cole was caught off balance and had to drop down to avoid the weapon. Zane ran in, launching into a spinning kick and following through with a front kick.

Cole took advantage of his strength and Zane's momentary loss of momentum by avoiding the kicks and knocking the Ninja to the ground. The white Ninja nonchalantly flipped back up.

"And stop," Kai ordered, walking over to the two Ninja with soft, catlike steps. "Now, what can we say about Cole's performance?"

Lloyd hesitantly raised a hand. His hard gaze faintly softening for a moment, Kai nodded to the younger Ninja, giving him permission to speak.

"He started both fights the same way. Zane could predict what was coming,"

Kai clasped his hands behind his back and nodded at Lloyd. "Correct. Cole is a very strong fighter, but he needs to stop relying on strength so much. He's a predictable fighter- he will use a technique which is direct and aimed at the opposition's most obvious opening. While this is a good thing when fighting opponents you've never faced before, it means that anyone facing you a second time will know exactly what they're up against and can guess what move you will use. Remember that a punch to the gut and a quick finger strike to the throat will both slow your opponent down, but one technique is a lot more subtle than the other because people just don't use it enough," Kai folded his arms. "Cole needs to become sneakier. By contrast, Zane looks for patterns in his opponent's fighting style. He's good at analyzing, and pulling off moves which are technically correct. Now, he needs to work at making his movements flow or he will lose momentum, hence why Cole was able to knock him over. If he's doing a spinning kick, he should follow up with a kick which also has a circular motion. If he does a straight line kick such as a front kick, he should follow it through with something like a straight side kick. Okay, Lloyd's up next against Zane."

Nervously, the Green Ninja made his way to where Cole and Zane were shaking hands. Once Cole had left the immediate area, Kai nodded for the two Ninja to begin.

Lloyd had obviously been learning from Cole during Kai's absence and started the fight with a spin of his staff. Zane avoided the blow, coming back at Lloyd with a front kick and a side kick. Kai nodded approvingly at Zane's two straight line kicks which caused Lloyd to hurriedly back up. The younger Ninja recovered quickly, leaping in with a double spinning kick, using both his legs and his staff to get Zane to give him some space. The Ice Ninja waited until Lloyd had stopped spinning, before coming in with two punches. Lloyd had let his guard down in an attempt to balance during his kicks, and got hit twice.

"Right," Kai said, stopping the fight and regaining the attention of the on-looking group. "What can we say about Lloyd's fighting?"

"He needs to keep his guard up all the time," Cole said, watching Kai carefully, noting the folded arms and hard expression. He'd never seen Kai look so…detached before. Lloyd had just taken two hits, and Kai hadn't even asked the younger ninja if he was alright. What had happened to his team mate? Kai stood there, complete with spiky hair, red gi and sword strapped on his back. But where was his smile? The jokes, where had they gone? His demeanor was so empty. No emotions were displayed; it was like a door had slammed shut and Kai was looking out, evaluating and analyzing his surroundings, but never letting anything look back in.

Kai nodded. "Yes. Lloyd's very determined to prove himself as the Green Ninja. Unfortunately, that determination is affecting his judgment," the Red Ninja turned face Lloyd. "There is no point in trying to prove yourself to on-lookers who cannot affect the outcome of the fight. Focus on the moment, focus on the fight, and focus on keeping your guard up. Don't try to impress anyone with fancy moves. Heroics get people killed,"

Cole looked directly into Kai's serious (but strangely empty) brown eyes. "Speaking from experience?" he asked, trying to catch the red Ninja off guard-trying to make that cold exterior crumble slightly.

Kai stiffened.

_(Two frosty breaths dancing in the cold night air as their owners' feet pounded against the tarmac. _

_Escape. Run._

_But they could only run for so long before they were caught and captured._

_And captured, she paid the price._

"_I'll save you!"_

"_Don't be the hero! Save yourself!"_

_He couldn't leave her, but he couldn't free her either and the next time he saw her, she was free-falling with diamond droplets chasing her down,_

_Down,_

_Down,_

_Down._

_It was her punishment for him so 'heroically' freeing her._)

"Kai?" Cole asked, looking down at his slightly shorter teammate.

Kai blinked and shifted subtlety so he was facing away from Cole. "No."

"What's going on?" Cole asked, his voice rising slightly in volume as he walked closer to the red Ninja. "What happened to you?"

Kai took several casual steps away from Cole, feet seeming to barely brush the deck as he moved silently. _(Quietly sneaking past the guards, make no noise.)_

Cole gave a quiet sigh as he watched the detached Ninja address the rest of the group. "Okay, lesson's over. Feel free to practice what we've done today and help others with it as well."

A grinning Jay immediately bounded off to find Nya, excited at the news that the morning's training was finished. Zane went in search of his Falcon and Lloyd headed for the game room, leaving Cole and Kai standing in silence.

"You can go," Kai pointed out, brown eyes flicking momentarily towards Cole.

_(Brilliant white light exploding in the previously silent night air. Drowning out all thought, drowning out all hope; he was a panicked animal caught in the headlights…)_

"We're not finished," Cole said, stepping nearer to Kai. Kai flinched.

_(Hope dies in a whisper…)_

The red Ninja kept a blank expression on his face, but as he turned away, Cole could tell that he was like a panicked animal; ready to flee if too much pressure was put on him.

_(They'd spotted him! They'd be caught. RUN!) _"Yes, we are," Kai said stiffly, and Cole could almost taste the apprehension the red Ninja was feeling but refused to show in anything other than the tense set of his shoulders.

_(RUN!)_

"You've changed. You never should have taken up that mission alone. It was too dangerous," Cole walked around Kai, coming face to face with his spiky haired teammate. (Was Kai's hairstyle really the only part of his friend which had remained unchanged?)

_(RUN!)_

Kai took a step back, putting a safe distance between him and his teammate. _Teammate? Was Cole still a teammate? But, but Cole was circling him! Teammates didn't do that! They didn't! They shouldn't encircle each other! _

_("Face it, Fireboy. You're surrounded. Now will you come quietly like a good boy or do I have to…")_

Kai swallowed. This was Cole. Trustworthy, solid as rock, responsible Cole. The team's leader and his wouldn't do that.

_("She's dead, Ninja. How does that make you feel? It was all your fault, you know, and the same fate will await anyone else who tries to escape!")_

Kai folded his arms loosely, and Cole couldn't tell if the gesture was defensive or not. "I survived, didn't I? The Puppeteers would have gotten suspicious if all four of us infiltrated their gang. Admit it; we're pretty big news around Ninjago. If any more than one of us tried to go undercover, the chances of being discovered would have increased tenfold," Kai shot back bitterly. _How long had it been since he'd thought of anyone as his teammate?_

Cole nodded. Kai had a fair point. But he wasn't done with his teammate yet. "You were reckless to take that mission on by yourself. But I've noticed that you're not reckless anymore. You stop, you observe, you evaluate _and then_ you decide on a course of action. What happened, Kai?"

Kai's eyes narrowed very slightly in irritation, but Cole didn't miss the subtle movement. "Why do you even care?" his tone was faintly prickly.

"Because I'm the leader of this team, and I have a responsibility for the people I lead. If one person isn't stable, then everyone else will be affected and I can't let that happen. Look at the way you treated Lloyd today. He got punched twice and you didn't even care. Plus, I really don't like seeing you like this," Cole replied calmly.

_Like this?_ _What did that mean? Nothing was wrong with him… _"Not everyone in the real world plays nice. It's better for someone-even Lloyd- to take a hit here where it doesn't matter, than to get hit when they're fighting for their life. He'll learn from this, and won't make the same mistake next time. Plus, it wasn't actually a bad punch. Zane's fist barely grazed his stomach and he looked fine afterwards," Kai said, his face twisting into a slight sneer as he continued. "You want me to apologize to him for not mother henning?"

Cole raised one eyebrow, noticing that Kai had dodged the other half of his statement and definitely gotten marginally defensive. "No. I would just like to know what caused the change," He realized that he might have been too direct with that last statement, and wasn't surprised when Kai fluidly moved away, ending the conversation.

And that raised another series of interesting questions. Kai had never been one to move gracefully. He had always been a direct, reckless fighter who walked with confidence and what he had called 'swagger'. So, what had taught him to ghost around silently?

And then there was the fighting. Kai had never paid much attention to detail, but now he was getting picky about every little thing, stressing how important it was that everything was perfect. Cole could tell that what Kai was teaching them was very practical and would no doubt make them better fighters. But he was teaching them to fight without honor. To be sneaky, not upfront and honest. It was right to give your opponent the opportunity to dodge or block your blow. But Kai didn't care about that. He was more concerned about killing the enemy as fast as possible.

Kai was teaching them to fight very much like an assassin would- kill the opposition at all costs and do what you must to survive.

And that scared Cole.

It was interesting, though. In a roundabout way, Kai had actually helped him. Kai had said that for him to be a better fighter, he needed to be sneakier. Cole was pretty sure that if he followed that advice when talking to his brother, he'd be more successful at getting answers as well.

* * *

Lloyd flopped down on a beanbag and sighed. Picking up a game console, he decided that he really wasn't in the mood to look at a screen of flashing lights and dejectedly dropped the electronic device back down on the floor.

It wasn't fair. He'd missed Kai so much. Cole was awesome; Cole was his close friend. But Kai… Kai had a special place in his heart that no one else could claim. Kai had been the one to save him in the Fire Temple. Kai was the big brother who read comic books to him and made him laugh when he had a nightmare or missed his father.

Lloyd had never had a big brother, but if things had happened differently, if he wasn't a Dark Lord's son and had a normal family and siblings, then he would like to think that his brother would be someone like Kai.

Lloyd curled up on the bean bag, resting his chin on his knees. Actually, he still missed Kai. Whoever this cold, uncaring person was, it was not Kai. The detached Ninja who had returned yesterday bore no resemblance to the one he had farewelled tearfully a month ago.

"_But Kai! Who'll teach me Spinjitzu? I want to become a great ninja like you!" Lloyd wailed as the older Ninja packed his bags._

_Kai chuckled, ruffling Lloyd's hair affectionately. "I'll teach you when I get back, okay kid? In the meantime, you ask Cole and everyone else to teach you stuff. Cole's a good leader, and he's really patient," _

_Lloyd's lower lip trembled. "But you're going away for ages! And Cole's not you,"_

_Kai had finished packing and stood up. "Then you can surprise me with how much you've learnt," _

_Giving a small nod, Lloyd picked up Kai's bag, ignoring the Fire Ninja's protests. "You can carry it later, 'kay?" the young boy commanded as the two Ninja walked out of the bunkroom. _

_Kai grinned, watching Lloyd struggle under the weight of his backpack. "Weakling," he teased._

_Lloyd rolled his eyes. "No I'm not," he said, putting the bag down and playfully punching Kai._

_Kai dodged the blow neatly. "Good try," he declared, walking straight into Lloyd's second punch. "Ow. Looks like all my teaching is paying off, right kid?"_

"_What teaching?" Lloyd asked innocently. "Wait, that teaching? Yeah, I wouldn't really call the stuff you do teaching. How about… showing me what not to do because you look so stupid doing it?"_

_Kai gave a mock scowl. "I hope your sense of humor has improved by the time I get back. Maybe Cole can get that sarcastic streak out of you. I certainly can't,"_

"_That's because you're even more sarcastic than I am,"_

_Kai rolled his eyes. "That's probably right. See you later kid. We can hang out when I get back, yea?"_

_Lloyd grinned eagerly. "Sure thing!"_

The Ninja-in-training looked up at the doorway as Kai walked past the game room silently, a blank expression on his face. Trying not to cry, Lloyd sunk down further into the bean bag, staring at the table in the middle of the room. There was a photograph which had been taken several months ago sitting on the middle of the tabletop. Everyone was grinning wildly at the camera. Nya and Jay had their arms around each other, Cole was pretending to punch Zane- the Nindroid was looking mildly offended, but he was still smiling anyway. Sensei Wu simply stood in the middle of the group and smiled politely at the camera.

Lloyd choked as he looked at the last two figures in the photograph. A smirking Kai had one arm around Lloyd, who had spikes gelled into his hair just like the red Ninja did. The younger boy could still remember the day that photo was taken. He had walked in on Kai doing his hair, and the red Ninja had shown him how to make spikes. They had laughed as Lloyd made several attempts to make his hair look like Kai's, but no matter how hard he tried, one of the spikes would always flop over. Kai had joked that his hair was used to standing up straight- he had spent years wearing it that way after all.

"_Don't worry, little guy. Wear it like this for five years, and it will look exactly like mine!" Kai laughed._

_Lloyd groaned. "Great. That means several months of floppiness, doesn't it? I think I'll pass,"_

_Smirking, Kai nodded. "Yeah, but it's worth it. Girls go crazy for spikes,"_

_Lloyd pulled a face. "Eeew, girls,"_

_Kai chuckled at the younger boy's disgusted expression. "Cooties!" he cried, causing Lloyd to burst into laughter. _

Despite his best efforts, a single tear rolled down Lloyd's cheek. It could have been at the now bittersweet memory; it could have been at the change in his brother.

He looked up as Kai walked past the doorway again, heading in the opposite direction with a bag of training gear in his hands. The red Ninja never once glanced his way, although Lloyd was sure Kai knew he was here, but didn't care. The red Ninja just wore the same detached expression. Lloyd had seen brick walls show more emotion.

Another tear fell, and the young Ninja buried his face in the bean bag so he wouldn't have to see any more.

He missed Kai.

* * *

**I actually have no idea about the way each Ninja fights (it's kinda hard to see on the TV)- so that was made up. Hope that it all made sense anyway.**

** For the readers who were wondering why Kai went on a mission by himself, I hope this chapter answered a little about it. Having anymore than one Ninja working undercover would increase the chances of cover getting blown. **

**And, in reply to the reviewer who was wondering about what happened to Kai, I would love to tell you! But, the rest of the Ninja Team don't actually know yet. All will be revealed in future chapters, I promise! :)**

**See ya later, guys!**


	4. Wooden

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed: TheLegendaryCrystalWolf, ArwynandCole, Lovestarr, Wafflegirl0304 and Lya200. Your feedback was much appreciated! **

**Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I actually wrote this chapter a while ago… but then I decided that I didn't like it because it was rushing things forward too quickly both plot wise and character development wise. So I had to rewrite it. *Groans*. Anyway, here it is now!**

**I don't own Ninjago or 'You Can't Take Me'.**

* * *

_Don't judge a thing until you know what's inside it.  
Don't push me,  
I'll fight it.  
Never gonna give in,  
never gonna give it up, no.  
If you can't catch a wave then you're never gonna ride it.  
You can't come uninvited._

_**-'You Can't Take Me' by Bryan Adams from 'Spirit' soundtrack.**_

* * *

Wood was an interesting thing. No really, it was. Wood had such interesting colours- so many fascinating shades of brown. Wooden floors were even more remarkable, the way the patterns in the timber swirled around under the smooth, polished surface. Odd to think that those secret designs would not be visible if the tree had never fallen, had never died. If the tree had lived, then they would be incarnate mysteries and the secrets of the heartwood would never be revealed. Sometime only death could expose the most secluded secrets.

Lloyd gave a small sigh as he absently traced a dark ripple along the (dead) wooden floor. He missed Kai. So much.

He wanted to know why. Why was Kai like this? Why had he gone all cold and distant? Had Lloyd done or said something wrong?

"Hey kid. You okay?" a voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to face the speaker. A small childish part of him hoped, _hoped so much_ that it was Kai. Maybe Kai had just been tired. Maybe he had just been preoccupied. But maybe now he was back to normal, back to being Lloyd's brother and confidant. The cold image Kai had been carrying could have melted like snow in the morning sunshine, a new day dawning, a fresh beginning. His eyes flicked up hopefully and… met Cole's calm gaze.

Not Kai's.

Cole.

_Not Kai._

Lloyd gave a small shrug and a sigh, dropping his head dejectedly back onto the beanbag and resuming his study of the lifeless floorboards. _Kai hadn't come back. Kai was gone._ Lloyd ran a finger over the delicate wooden pattern on the cold floor as the Earth Ninja quietly sat down next to him.

"What's on your mind, little guy?" Cole asked, breaking the silence.

Lloyd wished he wouldn't. Silence was used to morn dead things, and part of Kai was dead. Frowning, Lloyd pushed himself up into a sitting position. "What's wrong with Kai? He's just so…not Kai," he stated, curling up into a small ball as he struggled to find the words to describe what he was missing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cole give a soft sigh. Lloyd knew what that expression meant. Older people used it all the time when they were stressed, but didn't want a younger child to know. They usually used it to hide something.

Was Cole about to hide something from him about Kai?

But what happened to Kai and why would it need to be hidden?

"Lloyd…I don't know." Cole uttered softly, and Lloyd knew from the sincerity in his voice that he was being honest. "I agree. Kai's not himself. But he won't tell me why,"

Lloyd looked up at the older Ninja hopefully. "I could talk to him," he said. Kai had always told him after a nightmare that it was good to talk about sad stuff. Surely he'd want to share with Lloyd? Then he could help him.

Cole looked doubtful. "Taking on the Puppeteers solo was a huge risk. Lloyd, we don't know what happened to him. That gang was a crowd of cutthroats who specialised in organized crime. And they were good at what they did… Something happened to Kai. Maybe he saw something terrible there. Maybe we'll never know," the team leader said grimly.

With a frown, Lloyd asked "Can't we just try? I could ask him to help me fight, y'know, go over that stuff he taught us about this morning, and get him to talk then,"

Cole stood and gave a shrug. "Give it a go. He might open up to you a bit more, kid."

* * *

"Hey, um…Kai?" Lloyd asked as he timidly entered the training room, looking for Kai and absently wondering if this was how a mouse would feel entering a lion's den. The room was silent, but Lloyd was absolutely sure the Red Ninja had headed here with his training gear. Swallowing nervously, Lloyd took a few more hesitant steps into the room, noticing a flash of red by one of the training bags further down the room. "Kai?" He could just make out a figure launching a jumping kick at the bag. Anxiously, Lloyd stopped in the middle of the room, waiting to be noticed.

A couple more seconds of silence passed before Kai turned around and looked at Lloyd. "Yes?" The single syllable was formal, polite. But there was no trace of familiarity. The word was as empty as the one who had spoken it. It wasn't at all what Lloyd had been expecting. Sure, Kai had changed. But he couldn't have changed that much, could he?

It appeared he had.

Suddenly feeling like a stranger intruding on something- but not quite sure what-Lloyd awkwardly looked around the room. The wooden walls were displaying more personality than Kai was at the moment, and Lloyd glumly realised that he'd probably have a better chance getting answers out of them than he would at getting answers from Kai. Just looking at the politely detached expression on Kai's face let Lloyd know that there was no way the Red Ninja would want to talk about what had happened. In fact, it was unlikely that even Lloyd's excuse for a chance to talk with Kai would work. The Red Ninja didn't look like he was in the mood to expand on what he had taught Lloyd that morning.

Giving a small sigh, the Green Ninja shifted awkwardly, not too sure what to do or say next.

"Lloyd?" Kai asked, with one eyebrow raised slightly at the younger Ninja.

"I was…wondering…could you," He gave a pause, shaking slightly under Kai's unemotional gaze. "Could you help me with stuff you were talking about before? Y'know, for fighting?"

The Ninja in red gave a slight shrug. "What do you want to know?"

"Uh, well you were saying something about keeping my guard up and stuff, but it's hard to do when I'm practicing by myself because there's nothing to block," Giving a small swallow, Lloyd looked up doubtfully at the older Ninja, wondering if his next request would be accepted, or if he would be (perhaps, quite literally) kicked out of the room. "Could I spar with you?"

"What about the others? Cole might be able to help you," Kai replied.

"But he wasn't the one teaching me this morning!" Lloyd pointed out. The words came out slightly louder than he had intended them to and he paused awkwardly, wondering if Kai would get angry at his confrontational tone. It would make sense, especially as Kai didn't even appear to want to train him at the moment. Lloyd tensed, ready to run. He really did not want to face an angry Kai. The Red Ninja was scary enough as it was when he was being all quiet and mysterious.

To Lloyd's surprise, not even a flicker of annoyance crossed Kai's face. "Sorry, Lloyd. Perhaps later," he said, turning his back and walking away from the younger boy, his footsteps not making a sound as he moved.

* * *

"But he wasn't the one teaching me this morning!" Lloyd stated.

With a soft sigh, Kai examined the young boy standing in front of him. He kept his face blank, devoid of any emotion. It wasn't that he didn't like the kid… but Lloyd didn't belong to his world, anymore. There had been a time when Kai had been honoured to teach Lloyd. But Kai had lost far too much over the past month, and he knew that Lloyd didn't deserve to know about the darker things the world held.

The younger boy deserved to keep his childhood, just as Kai's team mates deserved to believe that keeping the peace in Ninjago was as simple as making jokes and working as a team.

And that was why Kai couldn't connect with his team anymore.

It was why he didn't belong with them.

Because what they believed and experienced conflicted with everything he knew and their world simply _wasn't his reality._

They would always be on the other side of an unbreakable glass screen. They could see him, just as he could see them, but their two very different worlds had to remain separate. He couldn't allow them to get close to him, not anymore. He had to show control. That meant he had to hide his emotions away- hid the horror of what had happened away-from them. His life was a dangerous path, and only those who tread with the softest and most cautious of footsteps could walk it.

And poor, well-meaning Lloyd could never be part of it anymore.

Keeping his emotionless expression on, Kai shook his head at the younger boy. "Sorry, Lloyd. Perhaps later," he said, turning away.

It hurt to have to walk away from the kid. But Kai had learnt hard lessons over the past month, and he just couldn't trust himself in a fight anymore. To him, fighting was not a fun, social event where you learnt important skills. It was something you did to stay alive at all costs, and that meant getting rid of whoever was attacking you.

It meant that had Lloyd sparred with him, the young Green Ninja would be playing with fire and would have undoubtedly (but, accidentally) gotten burnt.

* * *

Lunch was a quiet event.

Before the meal, Lloyd had gone back to find Cole, and told the older Ninja that Kai had completely refused to help him or talk about what had happened. Cole had then relayed this information to the other three Ninja and Sensei Wu and a small meeting between the five had taken place.

Although their wise mentor hadn't expressed any worry about Kai, Lloyd was certain that he was just as concerned about the Red Ninja as the rest of the team was. The Sensei had suggested that the team took the afternoon off training, and went into Ninjago City instead for a bit of a break and to run a few simple errands. The general hope was that doing simple things such as grocery shopping and chilling out at a mall would help reassure Kai that everything was back to normal and maybe allow the Ninja to open up a bit more about his experience with The Puppeteers.

"Could you pass the salt please, Kai?" Cole asked.

The Red Ninja could feel his leader's eyes closely scrutinising him as he handed him the salt. Kai was absolutely sure that Lloyd had talked to the rest of the group after he had left the training room. He wondered what Lloyd had told them. Though, judging from Cole's attention to him, it probably wasn't good. Kai didn't like the attention, but knew better than to squirm uncomfortably and broadcast the fact.

_("Ninja… you're very easy to read, aren't you? I thought you would have had better training than that. It's so easy to guess your weaknesses,")_

It was always good to keep people guessing.

"So," Jay began, breaking the silence. "We were thinking of going into the City after lunch. Sensei wants us to run a couple of errands, and we were thinking about hanging out at the mall afterwards. Are you in, Kai?"

Giving a small shrug, Kai took a sip of his drink. "Sure." He didn't particularly want to go… but there was no need to draw any more attention to himself from the rest of the team by refusing to go, either.

Jay grinned. "Great! We're going to split into two teams to get the jobs done. Zane and I will get the tools and stuff while you, Lloyd and Cole get the groceries."

* * *

"Why am I always the one who has to get the groceries?" Lloyd whined, kicking a small stone in annoyance as he, Kai and Cole walked across a quiet car park towards the supermarket. "How come Jay and Zane get to go and get the tools and pieces of machinery?" He asked, fiddling with the sleeves on his causal clothing. The Ninja had decided- after getting chased by fan girls several weeks ago- that it was better to try and blend in with everyone else and leave the gis at the Bounty while they were running errands in the city.

Cole grinned down at the impatient child. "We have a more important job than Jay and Zane do. You need food to survive; you can't just live on wires and bolts,"

"But it's boring," Lloyd huffed as the pebble he kicked skittered under a car and out of sight. "And it's not fair!"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Welcome to the way of the world, kiddo," he replied, ruffling Lloyd's hair.

The young Ninja scowled at Cole. "It's not fair," he repeated, swatting the older Ninja's hand away.

With a sigh of exasperation Cole turned to look at the quiet Ninja walking on his left. "Would you rather live on wires and bolts than food, Kai?" he joked in a light tone.

Kai raised one eyebrow at Cole, but didn't say anything. _(Wire. String. Rope. Each line was attached to different parts of the marionette, making it hang suspended in the empty air. With a ghostly laugh, the Puppet Master pulled each string; forcing the toy to stay and perform a jerky dance against its will… until the taunt strings broke and it fell down in pieces)_

"Excuse us for a moment, would you Lloyd?" Cole asked in the same light-hearted tone while watching the silent Kai out of the corner of his eye. "Could you go and see if there are any specials going in the candy section? We'll meet you in the shop shortly."

"Sure!" Lloyd beamed, all annoyance forgotten at the mention of sweets. The boy ran off into the shop, leaving the two older Ninja to stand in silence. A plastic bag blew past where they were standing in a warm breath of wind, gently brushing against the cement ground. Cole watched the rubbish fly in the breeze for a second before turning to face Kai.

"The kid thinks a lot of you," he stated carefully.

The Ninja folded his arms loosely. "So?" His empty brown eyes flicked up and met Cole's gaze calmly.

Cole took a deep breath, knowing that he had to be subtle if he was going to get any information from the blank piece of paper standing in front of him. "He was disappointed when you couldn't train him before lunch," he said with all the cautiousness of a bomb technician disarming an explosive. "I thought that was odd, because you usually enjoy teaching him,"

Kai gave a small, causal shrug, but his eyes narrowed slightly and the movement gave away his carefree attitude as feigned. He had obviously figured out where this conversation was heading and knew that Cole was looking for information. "I didn't have time this morning," the words were guarded, watchful, like a distrustful animal warily assessing a threat.

Cole nodded, but continued to probe for answers. "You normally have time, though. What changed?" He asked in a conversational tone; the sort that someone would use while commenting on the weather to a friend.

Kai wasn't buying the act and didn't reply; instead he looked around the car park with a slight frown.

The Ninja of Earth was starting to get a little bit fed up with Kai's lack of responsiveness and the fact that the conversation was beginning to go in circles. "What is going on with you, Kai?" Cole ground out between gritted teeth.

The Ninja of Fire ignored him and watched as a lady pushing a pram made her way into the supermarket, bumping into a middle aged man who was walking out of the store.

Cole gave a sigh and tried to recapture Kai's attention. "Could you at least look at me while I'm talking to-"

Kai turned back to face Cole and suddenly grinned, the empty demeanour instantly disappearing. It was like a switch had been thrown. He moved into a causal stance, arms hanging down and swaying easily with the movement. "Hey bro, do you reckon we should ask James and Zach to come hang out at the skate park?" Even his voice was laid-back. Cole frowned, completely taken aback by the sudden change. The Ninja of Fire looked completely relaxed, shoulders loosely swinging as he talked.

"I don't know any James-" Cole began.

Kai flashed another grin and cut the Ninja of Earth off. "I got _mean as_ air there last time! We should call Natalie and ask her if she wants to hang out with us as well. She was so impressed last time!"

"I don't underst-" he tried again as the man Kai had been watching earlier walked past.

"Aw, c'mon, man!" Kai smirked, reaching over to gently punch Cole on the shoulder, turning his face away from the man as he did so. "After your little bro finishes his shopping we can grab our boards and head down there. In fact, why don't we go see where Liam is? He's taking forever!"

"Um, sure," Cole replied, watching as Kai confidently strolled over to the store's entrance.

What in the world had just happened? Cole raced into the store after Kai, only to find that the blank expression was back on Kai's face and he was silent once again. The whole thing had been a charade. Cole groaned. Kai had obviously tried to distract him from talking and asking questions about what had happened.

As he grabbed a trolley and began to tick different products off the shopping list, Cole replayed the scene over in his mind several times. Maybe it had been a diversion tactic -which had worked rather well, Cole had to admit- but something didn't feel right. He looked at Kai again, and noticed that the Ninja of Fire looked deep in thought.

Just what _exactly_ was going on?

* * *

**I think that this chapter turned out better than the previous version of chapter four did. Yay! **

**For those who were wondering, after a bit of thought, I've decided that this is set before Child's Play in terms of Lloyd's age. So, yes, this is the younger Lloyd.**

**Also, for those who are wondering about the unnamed female in the flashbacks of the previous chapter… all will be revealed in future chapters! I would love to tell you more, but then I would be spoiling it! (And we can't have that now, can we?).**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Charade

**A/N: Whoop whoop, look at us… new story summary! Yea BOY! *Grins excitedly*. New story summaries and profile updates/tidy ups are my version of spring cleaning. *Nods*. Makes me feel far more ****organised than cleaning my room **_**ever**_** will. Pity my mother doesn't share the same point of view, though…. **

**Thanks for reviewing goes to: ArwynandCole, ForestBornNinjaGirl, TheLegendaryCrystalWolf and Wafflegirl0304! You are all so helpful and your kind feedback is awesome! So here's another chapter! Yay, more unstable Kai! Great… just what we **_**always**_** wanted…**

**Disclaimer: Ninjago is property of Lego, 'Oceans' is property of Evanescence. I don't own this stuff- I just like twisting it for my own entertainment (and hopefully that of my readers).**

* * *

_Can't find the road to lead us out of this,  
A million miles from where we burned the bridge,  
Can't keep pretending everything's going to be alright,  
with the whole world falling down on me._

'_**Oceans' by Evanescence.**_

* * *

Cole was worried.

It wasn't an emotion that the solid-as-rock Ninja of Earth often experienced. He was used to calmly formulating plans; developing successful battle strategies based on facts and figures and taking care of any problems head on with his scythe. But those skills which were so useful on the battlefield and contributed to his value as a leader were next to useless in this situation, and Cole was feeling slightly out of his depth in the changed playing field. Kai clearly had problems, and Cole knew he wouldn't be able to handle them by himself. Heck, he didn't even_ know_ what his team mate's problems were!

Giving a small groan, Cole absently selected some bread and continued through the shop, Kai walking silently beside him. Thousands of theories were swirling around in Cole's mind about Kai's abrupt change in character. Although he was almost certain that the sudden change had simply been a diversion tactic, he couldn't say for certain and dismiss the other theories because something _still _wasn't adding up.

But the Ninja of Earth just couldn't place his finger on it.

Giving up, Cole turned to Kai. "Still wanna go to the skate park, mate?" he grinned. Kai looked at him briefly and for a second Cole thought he saw a flash of fear on the Ninja of Fire's face. But, almost as if it had been some sort of illusion, the expression faded away like smoke on a breeze and was replaced with that emotionless front again, leaving Cole wondering if it had ever been there. Frowning, Cole pushed the trolley onwards. "Who are James, Zach, Natalie and Liam, by the way?"

_James… _

_Zach…_

_Natalie…_

_Liam…_

Cole paused. Each name had the same first letter as each of the Ninja…

_-Jay._

_Zane._

_Nya._

_Lloyd- _

But the names themselves were completely different so anyone listening wouldn't be able to relate them to the team of Ninja. A weird coincidence, Cole thought, but he wasn't too sure that it had any relevance to what had made Kai change so quickly. There was a slim possibility that it could be a coded message that they needed to get back to the others… but if it was important, surely Kai would have told him outright. What was the point in even using a code? They had been standing in an empty supermarket car park! It wasn't like anyone would have overheard them. Besides, if it had been a code, then it raised the question of what the 'skate park' was and why Kai had felt the need to suddenly change his attitude as he spoke.

No. Cole doubted it had been a coded message from Kai. He had to look deeper- examine what had happened from a critical point of view and form possible explanations before eliminating them one by one from known evidence until he reached a solution. It was just like developing a battle strategy. Something had changed while they had been talking, and that was what had caused Kai to change. Something external; something in the environment they had been talking in. That was the key.

But _what_ had changed?

He played the scene over in his mind again, right up until the point where Kai had moved over to him and given him a friendly punch on the arm. Cole frowned, feeling something click into place. There was something significant about that moment. Although it hadn't seemed important at the time, he realised now that the movement had actually caused Kai to turn his face completely away from the man so that his identity was shielded.

Why? Actually, the more he thought about it, the more the pieces of this particular section of the curious puzzle that was Kai seemed to come together. He realised that Kai's strange change had actually occurred the moment the man had walked out of the door and into Kai's field of vision.

Bingo.

So Cole had been partly correct. Kai's act _had_ been a charade… but Cole wasn't the person Kai had been trying to fool. He had been trying to avoid that man, by pretending that they were just a couple of carefree boys impatiently hanging around and waiting for a younger brother.

Cole abruptly stopped the trolley in the middle of the aisle and turned to Kai. Now that the team leader had an idea of what was going on, he could interpret Kai's body language much more easily. The Ninja was clearly anxious; Cole could tell from the quick glances that he kept throwing over his shoulder and the way he scrutinised absolutely everything he walked past, with his hands loosely clenched into fists.

An icy feeling began to grow in his gut, and Cole knew that something was very, very wrong here.

"Kai? Who was that man?" He questioned warily, looking down the aisle and noticing an abandoned pram lying several meters away. Not thinking much of it, Cole turned back to look at Kai, who had frozen, eyes narrowing at the empty pram.

Cole was about to ask Kai just what was going on when strong hands suddenly grasped his waist and he was flung into a nearby open freezer. His head hit the metal edge on the way down and Cole gritted his teeth as he landed among bags of frozen peas and sweet corn. In a semi-dazed state of confusion, he was about to ask Kai what happened when it dawned on him that that Kai was the one who threw him in the freezer.

* * *

Danger.

It was very, _very_ close.

(_Can'tgobackthere can'tgoback_)

Kai almost felt physically sick as he entered the supermarket, his confidant walk abruptly disappearing as Cole jogged up and fell in step with him. He was expecting the Ninja of Earth to say something about what had taken place outside, but Cole appeared to be too deep in thought to voice any confusion. Kai's change in character really must have thrown the poor guy.

But Kai didn't have the time to show any sympathy. The familiar, cold, whispering tentacles of fear were rising up again (like _before_ when he had been _runningrunningrunning_-), choking his heart and he knew he had been right to try and prevent his two different worlds from colliding- to stop the rest of the team finding out what had happened and getting involved. It was just a pity that he hadn't tried hard enough. He should have stayed at the Bounty- to heck with what the others made of it. If he hadn't come then his team wouldn't be in any danger. Questions were _easy_ to dodge in comparison to what he was now faced with.

The last time he had felt fear like this was when he had been-

_("You belong to me!" Voices shouting, footsteps pounding, weapons firing… he had to get out of there; had to get away from them-)_

-No.

He couldn't afford to go there. Not right now. He had to keep his head in the game- had to stay focused. His survival –and now, Cole's too- probably depended it. They wanted him to panic; to make mistakes. It was what they were counting on.

Nothing happened by accident, and it was no accident _that man_ was seen exiting the supermarket just as Kai went in. It was a show of their power, of what they were capable of. They wanted him to worry, wanted him to believe that nothing could stop them. _("We are MORE than just a gang, Fireboy!")_

After all, what was more powerful than resurrection of the dead?

_But _**was**_ it resurrection?_ Part of his mind asked bitterly (bitter like long nights full of painandhurtandhopelessness) in a whisper. _Life and death don't mix. (Like oil and water). Maybe… you're not as powerful as you thought you were. Maybe… you just didn't beat him the first time. You thought he died; that you had killed him- but you never did check the smouldering wreckage, did you_?

Ignoring that small voice, Kai scowled and selected a bag of rice, his mind drifting as Cole checked the item off the list.

But… but if _he_ survived that (_the_ _fire from the explosion still burningburningburning; its flames bright against the night sky_) then _they _truly were unstoppable.

_Wasn't that the point? _The little, doubting part of his mind asked again_. To show how they can bounce back from anything? To make you doubt yourself?_

(Nothing truly dies).

No! This wasn't happening! He was not doubting himself. Not when that was what they wanted…He sighed. He _was_ doubting himself.

(But if nothing truly died, then _nobody_ was safe. Because it meant that _they_ would be unbeatable).

Kai gave another scowl. He was NOT going to start arguing with himself. Okay, so he didn't understand what was happening (_don't lose control_) but that was okay.

Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe his little charade had been well acted and they hadn't recognised him.

But because _nothing_ happened by accident _("I have a reason for everything, Ninja! Don't ask me that again!")…_ and since that man was alive…. it could only mean one thing. His charade outside had been completely pointless and _they _hadn't been fooled. They didn't need to see his face to know it was him.

_They already knew he was here._

His ghosts had come back to haunt him.

Which meant… which meant-

-that this was a trap.

A solid lump of powerlessness and fear began to grow in his gut; the whispery doubt (the sort that grew the blackest of nights -) worming its way through his mind.

He couldn't do this.

He couldn't.

Couldn't go fight back, couldn't face his demons, because if he failed, then the past would just repeat itself.

He just-

-couldn't.

But did he really have a choice? When so much hung in the balance? Cole and Lloyd were both in the store and would need protection. Not to mention the other citizens who were simply shopping and didn't deserve to get tangled up in this.

"Still wanna go to the skate park, mate?" Cole asked, his voice piercing Kai's thoughts.

Hurriedly putting his emotionless mask back on and _forcing_ himself to calm down, Kai glanced briefly at Cole before turning away again. This was not the time to be distracted by pointless questions! He had to stay alert!

"Who are James, Zach, Natalie and Liam, by the way?" Cole spoke up a second time, but Kai didn't have time to answer him.

Some instinct was screaming at him that something was out of place; that something big was going to happen and he needed to get out of the supermarket now. Like the calm before a storm, or the moment of silence before an earthquake strikes, he was being warned. But he couldn't move now, or Cole would become suspicious and it would lead to more questions and the inevitable involvement of everyone else.

Besides, looking around the supermarket, Kai couldn't actually see anything out of place. There was no solid evidence that an evacuation was called for- certainly not enough justification for leaving the shop to satisfy Cole without an extended explanation. And he would really like to avoid that. Kai groaned softly. He would just have to wait.

Of course, there was always the possibility that nothing was going to happen.

They continued down the aisle and turned the corner into the next lane. Cole hadn't spoken again, and part of Kai wondered what the other Ninja was making of the situation. The team leader seemed to be very deep in thought. Kai was grateful for the silence, though. It gave him more time to think.

To plan.

To prepare.

The only problem was that he had no idea what he was planning _for_.

(Plan for anything).

After several more seconds of silence, Cole abruptly stopped the trolley and turned around.

"Kai? Who was that man?" Cole queried, moving to the side of the aisle, giving Kai a clear view down the lane. The Ninja of Fire froze, ignoring Cole for the umpteenth time that day as his gaze rested on an abandoned pram lying several meters away.

The _pram_.

The lady entering the shop who bumped into _the man(who should be dead but wasn't) _ had been pushing a pram.

Without hesitating, Kai picked up his team leader and shoved him into a nearby open freezer, giving a slight grunt as he struggled under the taller Ninja's weight. Once he was satisfied that Cole had landed safely among the frozen products, Kai quickly grasped the handle of the trolley and rapidly calculated angles. The pram was twenty meters down the aisle, directly facing the large floor to roof windows at the front of the shop.

Perfect.

Giving Cole's heavy trolley a push to set it in motion, Kai swiftly raced down the aisle, feet making a slapping sound as they beat against the slippery floor while he made the trolley gain momentum. Once the trolley had collided with the pram, Kai gave a final shove before letting go of the two rolling buggies, quickly pivoting around and running back down the aisle, jumping into the freezer just behind Cole. He heard the trolley ram through the glass and push the pram out of the shop just as he ducked down. Shards of broken glass fell like rain as the pram rolled into an empty section of the car park, where it promptly exploded.

There was a large orange fireball and the shockwaves shook the entire store. The explosion of the bomb caused more windows to break and shelves stacked with food to sway and fall over. Although the two Ninja had been sheltered from the blast in the open freezer, they weren't quiet as safe from the falling products. Kai cursed as a bottle of fizzy drink fell on his foot while several boxes of cereal hit his face.

Explaining to the rest of the team why a supermarket had narrowly missed being blown up by a pram -which had actually been a bomb-on-wheels- was going to be _great_ fun. What was going to be even more interesting would be giving reasons to the team on how he had known the pram was a threat in the first place without going into details. Groaning, Kai pushed the cereal boxes away and climbed out of the freezer, heading for the smoky site of the explosion.

* * *

Cole rarely swore. He had often found that uncouth language gave a poor impression of the person using it and that more often than not, swearing was completely unnecessary. But stuck in a supermarket freezer with a throbbing head, he was more than prepared to make an exception to that rule by getting up and demanding Kai tell him just what the _hell_ was going on. However, his plans were drastically changed when Kai suddenly leapt into the freezer behind him.

His training kicking in, Cole followed Kai's example by immediately lying back down and ignoring the icy sensation of frozen peas burning his bare arms. As out of it and confusing as his team mate was, Kai was still a capable fighter –the lesson he had given everyone else that morning was proof enough of _that_- and obviously knew something about the situation that Cole didn't. So when an explosion rocked the store, Cole was really thankful that he had followed Kai's lead and kept his head down.

As soon as the shockwaves died down, Cole was tempted to get out of the freezer and look around, but a swaying row of nearby shelves toppled over, causing boxes of noodles and bags of rice to tumble into the freezer on top of him. After kicking the goods away, Cole clambered out of the freezer, sardonically trying to look on the bright side. At least he hadn't been hit by any _canned_ food. That would have really hurt.

As he brushed himself off, the Ninja noticed that Kai had already made his way over to the site of the explosion.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do now, Kai," Cole gritted out as he carefully picked his way through the fallen goods and heard the wail of police sirens starting up in the distance. "We'd better go find Lloyd. You can explain all this when we get back to the Bounty."

* * *

**Next chapter:** Back at the Bounty, the team finally gets some of the answers they've been looking for…

**Thanks for reading! **


	6. Clouds

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I know it's a bit annoying when the writer can't respond to your reviews, so thanks for your patience and understanding!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago.**

* * *

_I dive again_

_I'm going under (going under)_

_Drowning in you (drowning in you)_

_I'm falling forever (falling forever)_

_I've got to break through._

_I'm going under._

'_**Going Under' by Evanescence.**_

* * *

_-Back at the Bounty-_

"Right. Let's start with a nice, easy, simple question. Like… how THE HECK did you know that the _freaking_ pram was a _freaking_ bomb in the_ freaking_ first place?!" Jay questioned, pacing around the dining room and looking dangerously close to spontaneously combusting.

Kai ignored the furious Ninja in blue and turned his attention to the rest of the assembled crowd, who were seated around the wooden table. Cole's features were creased into a slight frown- they had been that way since the explosion. The Ninja of Earth was disappointed in Kai for not saying more about his experiences with The Puppeteers sooner. Lloyd, who sat next to Cole, was slightly unfocused and had wide eyes- a scared expression. Nya was fidgeting with her golden bangle. Like Cole, she also wore a slight frown, but her restlessness showed that she was more worried than disappointed. Jay was clearly bordering on angry, but Kai was sure it was an attempt to hide his fear from the news of the unexpected attack. Zane was leaning forward in his seat and simply looked interested. Sensei Wu was contemplative- wise eyes taking everything in and lips pursed together lightly in thought.

His analysis of the group complete, Kai decided that Sensei Wu, Zane and possibly Cole were the ones to watch out for. Wu and Zane were somewhat calmer than the rest of the group and would be able to look far deeper into his answers than anyone else. Cole, while disappointed, was closer to the situation than anyone else as he had been there when the bomb had gone off. Like Zane and Wu, he would be looking carefully into each answer Kai gave.

He would need to be careful around those three.

"Hey! Kai! I'm talking to you!" Jay yelled in frustration. His movements were jerky and stiff (puppet on a string), showing his impatience.

_These guys really need to get better at hiding things. They're _far _too easy to read. _Kai gave a causal shrug, ignoring all the eyes fixed on him. He would not be intimated by these guys- no, his_ friends_, he corrected himself.

(_Friends? What are-)_

"I don't know," Kai replied simply. (Simple was good- less chance of his words getting pulled apart and analysed for deeper hidden meanings).

Jay gave him an incredulous look. "You don't know! You _don't know_? You don't know how you _knew_ that a _bomb_ was planted in the pram?!"

Well, actually, when he put it like that…

"Jay, sit down," Cole commanded, obviously deciding that if Jay continued the conversation in this manner, they would get nowhere. Standing up, Cole began pacing the room in the exact way the blue Ninja had. "Right. Kai." He stopped and nodded at the red Ninja sitting at the end of the table. "How did you know that the pram contained a bomb? And give a proper answer, please,"

"It was an estimation!" Kai protested weakly_ ("Toughen up, weakling!" a thud and then_-), fidgeting with a splitter of wood on the table.

_No, stop that! They'll see that you're nervous! _Some little instinct piped up. Kai scowled. He _wasn't_ nervous. Just… bored. Yeah, that was it.

He was bored.

(_Not_ frightened by the interrogation; all those eyes silently watchingprobingtearinghimapart-)

Just bored.

Seated, but nowhere near silent, Jay raised one eyebrow in doubt. "You just _estimated_ that a bomb had been planted in an abandoned pram!? In a supermarket?!" the disbelief was clear in his voice.

"Yeah," Kai shot back in a _bored_ tone.

Bored was causal; unworried. Bored was carefree; relaxed.

(_Of _course _he was just bored._)

Cole didn't look at all bothered by his uncooperative answer. The Ninja of Earth paused thoughtfully, causing Kai to stiffen slightly. Cole was _thinking_. The team leader who specialised in tactics and strategies was_ thinking_ out his questions carefully. That was fair scarier than the explosive Jay.

"Who was that man, Kai?" Cole asked offhandedly.

The tension in the room shot sky-high.

_Not good. _

"What man?" Jay asked, narrowing his eyes.

_Not at all good._

Cole turned to look at the blue Ninja. "While we were outside the shop, this man walked out and bumped into a lady pushing a pram. When the man walked past us, Kai turned his head away, trying to avoid him. Afterwards, when we were shopping, Kai looked incredibly nervous. He must have been expecting something because of the man and immediately got suspicious when he saw the pram,"

Jay swung his gaze to look at the red Ninja, waiting for an explanation. The team stayed silent, watching Kai intently.

(Sosososo many _eyes_!) Giving a sharp scowl, Kai, refused to answer, staring right back at everyone. Since when had Cole gotten so sharp and observant? What happened to the upfront, down to earth, predictable fighter?

Oh, yeah. He'd been learning from Kai.

"Kai," Cole called softly- fluffy white clouds floating in a clear blue sky. "I need to hear the answer,"

"No…" Kai looked away, avoiding those sincere brown eyes. "No… you don't," (why was it so hard to say that?)

He _wanted_ to trust his team- was sorry for treating them like this… but this was for their protection! Even though he did(n't) want to, he had to push them away.

They were safer that way.

Besides, what had happened was his secret! He was not going to bring up the past again. Some things were better left dead.

(Nothing truly dies)

_You're just ashamed to admit how scared you were _the little, accusing voice spoke up.

No. This _was not_ happening again. He was not going to get into an agreement with himself. Arguing led to division, division to doubt, and that led to The Puppeteers winning (which meant that everyone would die).

_Why don't you just trust them?_ The little voice asked and Kai ignored it. Trust was too fragile; easy to lose. It was like a beautiful ring or a shiny bead. Nice to have, but easy to misplace. (Easy to _break_)

"Kai?" Cole asked gently. "We need to know,"

No. They didn't.

Kai shook his head violently, brown spikes bobbing with the movement.

"Kai," the pitch of Cole's voice remained the same, not raising in frustration or dropping in anger. It was still gentle, still reassuring- flowing like a lazy stream of water over a smooth riverbed of flat stones.

(But you can still drown in the laziest of water)

(_Ican'tbreatheIcan'tbreathe)_

No! His secrets! Not theirs! Giving in to their interrogation would make what had happened come back; make it all the more real (more _alive_). He wouldn't (couldn't) reveal anything. He would just withstand their interrogation. (After all, he'd had plenty of practice). It was just unfortunate that the sort of interrogation he was used to involved pain (fire heat pain burning someonepleaseplease_pleasehelpme_) and not kind, gentle words. But adaptation was the key to survival and if there was one thing that Kai was good at, it was surviving against the odds.

Changed playing field? No problem.

"Kai," Cole spoke again, watching the internal conflict escalate on his team mate's face and knowing that the Ninja in red was close to breaking. He'd been examining Kai as Jay had attempted to get answers from him and knew that anger and shouting would only get Kai to retreat further inside himself. Patience was critical here. "You can trust us," his brown eyes shone with honesty (fluffy white clouds playing in warm sunshine). "It would really help us to know what's going on,"

Trust? Them?

Blinking, Kai tuned away from those _fartoohonest_ eyes. "I…" couldn't take this anymore. Giving up, giving in. "Okay." The very air seemed to freeze as Kai conceded defeat. "That man is with The Puppeteers. He's one of two deputies. A couple of days before I found you, I planted a bomb in the gang's main building. It blew the whole place up and I believed that no one had survived. But this man was in the building when the bomb exploded and he obviously didn't die,"

Cole sat back down, the wooden bench squeaking as he moved it across the polished floor. "Why would he come back and plant the bomb in the supermarket, then?"

Kai swallowed. "It's a display of The Puppeteer's power. They want to show that nothing can stop them. If one man survived, that means others would have, as well. The Puppeteers haven't disbanded. They've come back," against his will, his fingers anxiously started to tap against the table top.

Nya's frown grew as she looked at her brother. "Did they want to get rid of you that badly? That bomb could have killed everyone if you hadn't pushed it out of the store. What would they gain from the attention of the authorities if the bomb had created a massacre?"

Shaking his head, Kai gave a sigh. "They knew I was watching the pram enter the store. It was done deliberately so that I would grow suspicious. Had they desired me dead, then there was nothing to stop them from sending a sniper up a building near the store and shooting me. They purposefully set it up so that I would notice and get rid of the bomb,"

"But why?" Jay whispered, his voice soft with horror.

"Because I've humiliated them. I've cost them so much in terms of money and reputation. They want to get back at me- keep me on my toes- by threatening us all. It also serves as a warning for others who want to see the gang disbanded by showing that it's better not to mess with them,"

"How long will they do this for?" Zane enquired.

"For as long as they're entertained by it. Then they'll capture us and kill us and there'll be nothing to stop them from controlling Ninjago. The police can't do anything to stop them; the gang is just so powerful," Kai replied, the drumming sound of his fingers on the wooden table stopping as he resumed picking small at splinters of wood.

"Why did you use a bomb when you were taking them down? Why didn't you just capture them?" Jay asked.

"They sort of… captured me first," Kai explained hurriedly (don'taskdon'task). "During my last escape, I found some of their weapons, so I grabbed a couple of bombs and planted them in the main building. At this point, the situation was far beyond taking prisoners,"

Sensei Wu spoke up for the first time that evening. "Did the leader definitely die?"

"Yes, Sensei," Had anyone been looking closely at Kai's face, they would have seen a flash of satisfaction. (At least he'd gotten one part of his mission right). Sensei looked at the red Ninja for a couple of seconds, his brown eyes flickering, evaluating, before nodding in approval.

"Good,"

Lloyd's lower lip trembled slightly. "If the leader died, why did they immediately come back? It would take a while to nominate a new leader,"

Nya nodded her agreement. "It doesn't make sense. This gang cannot be stopped. The police have tried- they managed to kill the leader a couple of years ago. But The Puppeteers didn't appear to be affected by the loss. A new leader was selected and things carried on as normal. Since then, other agencies have tried to wipe out The Puppeteers- many members of the gang have been captured or killed, but no one has succeeded in completely stopping the gang because the same thing happened. They just came back. That's why we had to send Kai in the first place,"

There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds. Lloyd fidgeted with the material on his green gi anxiously until Jay finally broke the stillness.

"So, what do we do now?" The blue Ninja asked.

Kai still felt sick. They hadn't been told the complete story yet- just all they needed to know so far. But talking about it- even this little part- left a bad taste in his mouth. They shouldn't be learning about what had happened. Not only because it was his business and not theirs, but because this should have never occurred in the first place. Kai's hands clenched into fists. He didn't want to suggest this, but they had no other options. "We fight,"

Cole frowned. "We don't know the first thing about fighting these guys,"

Sensei Wu nodded. "And that is why Kai is going to train you."

* * *

**Next chapter:** the training begins!

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Night

**A/N: **This Chapter is a bit longer than the previous chapter. Sorry. I just couldn't stop!

**Shout-out** to _ArwynandCole_ who correctly stated what Kai has! I know that Kai does seem possessed and/or influenced by mind control but what he actually has is PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Yes, I was enjoying reading what reviewers were making of his 'out-of-it-ness'. Your suggestions were awesome and creative! I'm a cruel writer, aren't I? *Grins shamelessly*)

I'm trying my best to write the condition correctly (with the help of some research and some counselling stuff). (I've never has PTSD- my heart and prayer goes out to those who have/do). So, I don't mean any offense if I write this wrong. Please, if you notice an error, alert me to it, but bear in mind that it was not done deliberately and I mean absolutely no offence to those who have the condition.

**Warning:** To be taken only as directed. Jokes! I'm just kidding! I didn't mean it! Warning, _mentions_ of torture (in flashbacks only).

**Disclaimer:** Ninjago doesn't belong to me. It's Lego's property. The Clone Wars moral quote doesn't belong to me either. Remember, no recognizable settings or characters belong to this author!

* * *

_"Adaptation is the key to survival"_

_(Moral from the _Star Wars: the Clone Wars_ episode __**'The Citadel'**__)_

* * *

Kai escaped from the dining room as soon as he could after eating dinner- which had been as quiet as lunch was- and made his way onto the deck. It was decided that a watch was now needed at night due to the sudden threat from The Puppeteers, and he had gladly volunteered to take the first shift. Trying to go to sleep right now would be a pointless waste of time as his mind was just overflowing with doubt and fear and anger. Of course, the latter was only occurring as he attempted to find some way to cover up the two former emotions, but he knew he wasn't fooling himself.

So he took a deep breath of the cool night air and released the anger. It was just a pointless emotion to feel; a complete waste of energy. Those who showed anger were easy to read for weaknesses and easier to fight as they became distracted by and succumbed to their emotions. They were _slaves_ to what they felt.

He wasn't a slave to anything. Or anyone.

_Slave._

_("You belong to me!")_

No.

(_"On your knees, Fireboy!")_

Never!

_("I said: ON YOUR KNEES!")_

_Helpmehelpmehelpme._

His mind was a castle under siege; bombarded not by artillery but painandcontrol and hopedyinginwhispers and _youbelongtome_ and…

_(Searing heat slicingburningcutting into his very soul, his hands clawing at empty, uncaring air as acrid smoke lingered and twisted; gleefully weaving cruel patterns across his vision-)_

_Idon'tbelongtoyou Idon'tbelongtoyou Idon'tbelongtoyou!_

He tried to block out the thoughts, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. He had to keep moving.

_(He was choking on the smoke which danced so wickedly through the air and drowning in the pain which seemed to never end. His shoulder, his shoulder…oh __**agony**__!) _

Kai stumbled across the deck, blindly reaching out for the railing.

(_Their bruising hands stayed tightly on him, holding him in place and he wondered how anyone could be so inhuman and cruel as to-_)

He grasped the rails; the smooth wooden barrier solid and supporting under his trembling hands.

_(And then it was all over and he was __theirs__) _

His stomach lurched and the meal he had just consumed fell over the Bounty's railing to the sand below. He felt awful. Dark shadows seemed to swim before his eyes, dancing in and out of focus as he leaned further over the side, his shoulders rolling jerkily. Even when there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up, Kai continued to dry heave; ragged breath rushing in and out of his burning throat as he struggled to get himself under control.

Helpmehelpme.

Help me!

"Kai?" a voice called out into the darkness, seeming to cut through the night like the powerful beam from a lighthouse, guiding ships home during a storm.

No.

Not now.

No.

Go away.

(Please … stay)

Slumping exhaustedly against the railing, Kai looked up at the black figure silhouetted against the cheery yellow light shining from the dining room.

(How ironic that the light couldn't reach him out here, hidden away in the belly of the darkness.)

Who was there?

He would have thought it was Cole, but even as far away as he was, Kai was sure the figure was a little too short to be the Ninja of Earth. It couldn't be Zane or Nya- the hairstyle wasn't right and it wasn't Sensei Wu either as the figure wasn't wearing a hat.

"Are you okay?"

It was Jay. Just as he finished narrowing down the possibilities of who it could be, the cheerful voice rang out again and he recognized it immediately. It was foamy like bubbles floating on a soft breeze or sea foam bobbing up and down on turquoise waves.

"Kai?" Jay's figure disappeared from the light, and the creak of wooden planks told Kai that the Master of Lightening was making his way across the deck.

Kai didn't feel like the Master of anything at the moment.

"I'm… I'm here," he _hated_ how weak his voice sounded; hated the way his throat rasped dryly like he'd been wandering in a desert for hours without water.

"Okay, hang on," Jay's voice sounded worried and he shuffled across the deck. "It's alright, Kai, I'm coming,"

_Could you hurry_?

Kai curled himself into a small ball; shaking arms wrapping around his folded legs with his chin resting on top. The darkness of the night seemed to be everywhere; crushing him as he shuddered, pinning him down as he gasped for breath (_their bruising hands holding him in place_), until he was nothing.

He felt rather than heard Jay sit down next to him. The blue Ninja was silent for a couple of seconds before taking a breath.

"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay, because you obviously aren't- no offence," Jay stated. He paused, expecting an answer. But none was forthcoming from the silent Kai so he continued. "I actually came out here to apologize for being so… direct in the conversation before dinner. I shouldn't have yelled to get answers from you. I'm sorry, Kai,"

In the darkness beside him, a trembling Kai desperately infused all the strength into his voice that he could muster. "That's okay. Be aware of your fear. Don't … don't let it _rule_… you. You need to master your feelings, not the other way around," Sensei Wu did say he had to teach the group, hadn't he? Well, this was as good a place as any to start.

(Don't let it _rule_ you…)

(_Control _you…)

(_Slave_)

(_**Puppet**_)

_Stop!_

Jay was obviously surprised by the answer. "Where'd you learn this stuff? You come back, and it's like you know absolutely everything! I think even Sensei Wu's learning from you!"

Kai shook his head, and had Jay been able to see his team mate's face through the darkness, there would be only one word he'd use to describe the look in Kai's eyes.

Haunted.

"You don't want to know," the words were spoken so _brokenly_ that Jay flinched even though he wasn't the one who had said them.

What had happened to his friend?

"I'm sorry, Kai," Jay sighed. "We never should have sent you on that mission. We never should have let you do it by yourself. Just remember, I'm not going to let it happen again. We're a team. You're safe here,"

"Thanks, Jay," Kai replied, his voice slow, but steady. "That's what I needed to hear," he _sounded _heartfelt. (But the darkness hides _everything. _The blackest of lies are the ones which camouflage the best after night falls… when you can't see anything...). Had Jay been able to see his face he would have known that Kai was lying. The red Ninja_ knew_ that he wasn't safe here. But all the same, he appreciated Jay's effort to make things right – apologizing and offering comfort often were often difficult things to do, after all.

But they were fooling themselves if they thought they were safe here. Kai knew that- but Jay didn't. So it was up to Kai to protect his friends.

"Do you want me to stay with you out here?" Jay asked, interrupting Kai's thoughts.

"No, get some rest," Kai answered. He had to protect them. Had to _protect_ them. That meant Jay should go inside where it was safer (_please,_ _don't leave me here!_) and Kai would stay outside. It was the way things had to be. (_Please don't leave! pleasepleaseplease)_ He had a duty to look after everyone- he had the skills, he knew what they were up against and none of this would have happened if he hadn't decided to go on that mission.

"Yeah, you're teaching us tomorrow, so that's probably a good idea." Jay joked, thinking everything was fine but not knowing just how much his lighthearted comment contrasted with the atmosphere of Kai's mind.

Completely relaxed, the blue Ninja stood up and sauntered away, leaving Kai sitting alone in the darkness.

_Don't leave me here._

* * *

_=The Next Morning=_

In the training room under the Bounty's main deck, Kai frowned at the group standing in front of him. This was really unfair. Why did he have to teach all the lessons? All he wanted to do was learn. Not learn on the job or make up stuff on the spot or learn things the hard way. Simply _learn_ from a trusted teacher.

_Trust is overrated! How many times have I told you?_ Some instinct rebuked harshly and Kai resolved to not pay any more attention to it. _Stop wanting things you can't have! Toughen up already!_

_Shut up! I'm ignoring you!_ He argued back.

_("Toughen up, weakling," a thud and then sososo much __pain__ and he was swimming in it and drowning in it and dying in it and-)_

_Focus! No more arguing!_

Massaging one temple in an effort to dispel his growing headache, Kai turned to face the group. "Uh, right. Line up," upon his instruction, Lloyd, Jay, Nya, Zane and Cole hurriedly got into some sort of straight formation, confusion etched on their faces. Sitting quietly at the back of the room, Sensei Wu watched on with interest.

"Why are we lining up?" Lloyd asked, his eyes wide with confusion. "We line up for practical lessons on the deck, but this is just theory and we're not even outside," the rest of the line nodded their agreement and looked at Kai, clearly waiting for an answer.

Kai closed his eyes in annoyance. _("Line up! Sound off! If anyone's missing, they're dead when we find them!") _

He made them line up because that was what _they_ had made him-

_Focus!_

_No more mistakes!_

"Um, I want you all to be able to see the bench," Kai finally answered, ignoring the weird looks cast his way at the sudden pause. "If you can't see it you can't learn," he elaborated, gesturing to the bench in front of the Ninja, which had a variety of objects on it. Originally, he had planned to do some more practical work on each Ninja's fighting style, but had decided it may be better to start with a bit of theory instead.

"Why are we even doing this?" Jay asked, looking at the items resting on the bench. "A potato peeler? Really?" the rest of the assembled team concurred with the energetic Master of Lightening and began to murmur softly.

_(Soft like whispery fingers ghosting in the night, pulling strings-)_

"Listen," Kai patiently waited until he had the attention of the group. "I want you to identify all the weapons on this bench and tell me how they are used,"

Nya – she wasn't a Ninja, but Sensei Wu had decided it was important for her to attend these lessons anyway- raised one eyebrow doubtfully at her brother. "A potato peeler, a knife, a screw driver, a bread and butter knife, a plate, a pair of shurikens, a pistol, a set of keys, a pen, a full drink bottle, a deodorant can, a hammer and a _toothbrush_?" she asked incredulously. "You want us to name all the weapons in that lot?"

"Yes," Kai replied, his tone bordering on sharp and harsh. (_Like _their _voices when he-)_ They all needed to focus on the lesson and stop questioning what he was trying to present. He didn't want to get grumpy, but since this was for their protection, he was determined that they would all pay attention and learn.

This stuff could save their lives.

(It had saved his).

Zane looked at Kai curiously. "But there are only a few weapons set out amongst the other objects on the bench,"

"Are you telling me that you can't name these weapons and explain how to use them?" Kai growled out. The fierce, threatening tone caused Lloyd to flinch and look at Kai worriedly. The Ninja in red looked just as empty and emotionless as ever, so the harsh voice was completely unexpected. Kai was just so controlled. Lloyd gave something between a shudder and a shiver- he was scared but also desperately missed Kai. Usually, someone's voice reflected their expression and vice versa. It was a natural thing to do. But (this new, terrible, empty) Kai was so disciplined he could change one without the other being affected.

"No, Kai," Zane bowed his head, the movement intended to reassure Kai that the Nindroid was not threatening him.

Heartless brown eyes narrowed as Kai nodded. "Good. You can go first, then,"

Zane walked over to the table and held up the knife. "This knife is a Gerber Mark II and can be used for slashing and cutting. It can also be thrown, but its blade is not specifically designed for that, so it's better to not throw it unless you absolutely have to. This weapon is most useful in close combat but it can also be used for stopping opponents from a small to medium range if it is thrown- but remember that isn't recommended," he moved on to the pistol. "This pistol is a Beretta 92, and is also designed to be used when going on the offensive as it is used for shooting opponents. Due to its relatively small size compared to longer range weapons such as sniper rifles, the Beretta is better designed for combat at close quarters or a medium range." he walked further down the table, picking up two identical, pieces of metal which had multiple points. "And, these of course, are shurikens, also known as 'throwing stars' or 'Ninja stars'. You throw them at your opponents- hence they are offensive weapons and can be used in a short to medium range depending on how far you can throw,"

Kai nodded. "Is that it?"

Zane paused, turning back to table to study the objects. "I suppose you could use the hammer as a club for close combat, but it would be a rather unwieldy 'weapon'. That is all that I can identify,"

Kai gestured for him to get back in line. "Did Zane miss anything?" he asked the group, but silence greeted his words. "What weapon would you all chose from this table?" Kai pressed. "What would you use if you were under attack?"

"Definitely the shurikens," Zane stated.

"Beretta," Cole decided.

"Beretta or shurikens," Lloyd said thoughtfully.

"I'm not the best at throwing shurikens, so probably either the Gerber Mark II or the Beretta. If there was an attack, the closest one would do just fine," Nya grinned.

"Yeah, I'm flexible like that as well," Jay nodded. "Knife or pistol, whichever I can get my hands on fastest,"

"Sensei Wu?" Kai asked.

"Oh, I'd have to agree with Nya and Jay on that one- whichever is closest, although I would prefer the knife or shurikens over the pistol,"

Kai ran one hand through his spiky hair as he examined the group. "Right," This was a _great_ start to the lesson. He paused, causing the other Ninja to look at him worriedly.

"Did we say something wrong?" Lloyd asked softly. "I thought we identified all the weapons,"

Kai walked around the bench, a slight frown on his face as he considered what he was going to say next. When he arrived in front of the team, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked each Ninja in the eye before continuing. "You didn't even identify half the weapons on the table,"

Five mouths opened and gasped simultaneously.

"What?-"

"How?-"

"We did, I'm sure-"

"Are you sure?"

"But I thought we did!"

Sensei Wu quietly waited for the lesson to continue. It was interesting to watch Kai like this. The Master of Fire had clearly been changed by his experiences with The Puppeteers. Wu was pleased to see that Kai had grown in terms of knowledge and competence and became much more patient and a lot less reckless. But the old Master could only wonder at what price those changes had come at.

Whatever the price was, Wu was sure it was higher than Kai had been able to pay. Perhaps that was why the old Kai had all but disappeared.

And he wondered… what did it take to make such a change? Nowadays, Kai rarely spoke unless he was asked a direct question or put in a position such as teaching where communication was essential. He was also completely unreadable most of the time, but Wu had noticed that small, seemingly unimportant things such as heat, feelings of being controlled or powerlessness and strings could make that empty exterior crumble and in those moments, a small glimpse of what was underneath was exposed.

And he didn't like what he saw, so the Sensei resolved to keep an eye on his student.

"Shut up, all of you," Kai demanded, his cold tone interrupting the sudden burst of chatter. "What I'm teaching here _will_ save your life," his tone brought to mind blizzards- harsh winds and swirling snow beating the exposed face of the Earth relentlessly; the individual elements constantly struggling against each other- trying to rip everything else apart and _destroy_.

Silence fell and Kai nodded. "Good. Keep it like that. Now, I hate to break it to you, but The Puppeteers are clever. They plan out their attacks very carefully. Nothing happens by accident when you're involved with these guys. They attacked Cole and I in a supermarket,"

"But we know this!" Jay exclaimed. "I don't understand! I thought we had identified all the weapons! And you said they meant for you to see the bomb,"

Kai raised one eyebrow at the blue Ninja's interruption. "They _meant _to _terrify_ me. They caught us at a time when I had no apparent weapons so I had to think on my feet. That's the way they work. They attack you at a time where you _think_ you're unarmed and vulnerable. Then they prey on what you think- if you think you're at a disadvantage because you don't have a Beretta or Gerber or whatever else it is that you depend on then that feeling becomes your reality- no matter how delusional it actually is. And then they will kill you- well, actually, you would have _let_ them kill you- and they won't care that they accidentally took 'terrify' a bit too far. Yes, I could have been killed and to be honest, both outcomes would have suited them just fine because they also wanted to make an example of me,"

"So, what do we do to stop that?" Cole asked and Kai nodded, appreciating a question which finally related to what he was teaching.

"We improvise. Believe it or not, everything that isn't nailed down is actually a weapon. You shouldn't waste time learning about different types of weapons such as Berettas or Gerbers- we're not in the army. Rather, when you're training to simply _survive_ against the odds, you need to learn what _makes_ a weapon. Then, you apply that knowledge to the objects around you when you're in a dangerous situation." Kai looked pointedly at the things resting on the table. "And remember that sometimes the objects you don't think of as weapons _actually_ make the best ones. Their function might require a bit of out-of-the-box thinking, but they work extremely well." Kai walked over to the bench and picked up the water bottle. "Take this water bottle for instance. You could throw it or try and get water in the attackers' eyes. But the best way to use it is to run if you're on a smooth surface- not a surface such as carpet, but polished wood or tiles or lino. You tip the water out behind you and anyone chasing you will slip and fall."

The team nodded, beginning to understand what Kai was getting at. Eagerly, Lloyd raised a hand, waiting for Kai to nod at him before speaking. "How did you learn all this stuff?" the Green Ninja had a huge grin, clearly loving the idea of taking an attacker down with nothing but a water bottle.

_Learn?_

Kai froze. What was he supposed to say?

He hadn't learnt it. He'd picked it up on the fly when there had been no other option.

And he'd be dead now if he hadn't.

"I um… just was looking at things and decided that they had multi functions?" okay, now that was one lame excuse. The group clearly thought so as well, if their disbelieving expressions were anything to go by. Kai hoped that no more questions on _that_ topic were forthcoming from the group. Teaching improvisation sort of took away your own ability to improvise when one of your students sprang an awkward question on you.

Fortunately, Jay had decided it was time to change the subject.

"What about the potato peeler?" Jay asked, his enthusiasm stopping the uneasy atmosphere changing from 'awkward' to 'tense'.

Kai gratefully grasped onto the new question (_solid wood under trembling hands_). "Many potato peelers have a sharp top. You can use that to target unguarded, soft areas on your attackers' body, such as eyes, or the gap between the two bones in the shoulder near the neck. Now, I want you to work in pairs and decide how the rest of these things can be used in combat. When you're evaluating each object think- is it a defensive or offensive weapon? Can it be used as both? How could it be used differently- maybe not as a direct weapon- but in a manner which will stop your attackers like the water bottle did?"

Eagerly, the group nodded, getting into pairs to begin the task their teacher had set for them.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **The training continues…

**Thanks for reading! **

**And, finally, thanks to all the amazing reviewers!** I had several of those 'warm, fuzzy moments' when I read your comments! In no particular order, thanks goes to: **ArwynandCole** (well done on picking up the PTSD! And, yay I'm on holiday, so plenty of writing time is how I manage! Thanks for your review! I love how you pick up on Cole's character and how it affects Kai- I was actually thinking of the way you write Cole while I wrote it y'know, levelheaded and patient and stuff! You write him so well! ), **Wafflegirl0304** (I know! Sensei Kai. I wrote that last part of the chapter and then was like, gosh, here we go…), **KaitouKiwi **(I read your review over and over again. And then showed it to my family. And then re-read it some more. It was great fuel for my ego! (which is huge enough without it…)! Thanks so much!) and to **Determine artists** (Glad you found it interesting! At least I'm not boring my readers. Thanks for commenting!).


	8. Broken Butterflies

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait! I got sick (and whenever that happens my writing muse gets sick as well) and then I went on holiday. Where there was NO Fanfiction access. Which sucked a little- although the holiday was pretty fun.

I hope this is worth the wait! It's a little 'wordy' and clunky in places, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Thanks to everyone for reviewing! You're all too kind! I do hope you all had a good Christmas -if you celebrate it that is; if you don't, then I hope you had a good holiday anyway!

**Warning**: Kai is not a happy Ninja in this chapter. (But really, what _else_ did you expect?) Lloyd and Cole don't exactly have a party, either.

**Disclaimer:** Lego owns Ninjago, Evanescence owns '_Erase This'_ and I own nothing.

* * *

_**"**__Not gonna let this day go by.  
I'm gonna save this wasted life,  
And nothing can stand in my way.  
Not enough to say goodbye,  
Burn it til there's nothing left.  
I'm drowning in the mess that I have made.__**"**_

_**-'Erase This'**__ by Evanescence._

* * *

"Has everyone finished identifying uses for all the objects on the table?" Kai asked after the Ninja had been working for half an hour. With nothing more productive to do, the red Ninja spent the time watching his students carefully from a corner of the room. He had refused to help them when they got stuck, though. It wasn't the actual use of each object on the table as a weapon that he was trying to teach them, but rather the ability to identify the way any object could be used as a weapon. It wasn't something he could just tell them. For this lesson to be worthwhile, they needed to figure it out for themselves.

(Like he had.)

"You got it, boss," Jay, who had been working in a pair with Nya, waved a piece of paper with rather messy writing on in it in the air and grinned. "We're ready to present this stuff to the team! Hear this and weep, you lot!"

"Why? Is it that bad?" Cole asked with a smug grin. "Aww, well, what else were we expecting from you, Jay? You're lucky you had Nya on your team. You'd be completely stuffed otherwise!"

"Yeah, she's the one carrying all the weight in the relationship," Lloyd chipped in, with a grin almost as wide as Cole's plastered across his face.

Nya glared at the Green Ninja. "Are you calling me fat?" At the suggestion of someone insulting his girlfriend, Jay shot Lloyd a cold glare as well.

"No! Not _that _weight! You're real skinny! I meant like you're the serious one who's all down to earth and stuff," Lloyd protested, back tracking frantically. "As in Jay's real energetic and you're calmer,"

Cole chuckled softly and ruffled Lloyd's hair. "Lloyd, carrying all the weight in the relationship doesn't mean that you're the serious one. It means you're the one doing all the work and the other person is having a free ride,"

"Oh. Well, scratch that comment from the record," Lloyd groaned. "Gosh, that's embarrassing. Sorry, Nya, sorry Jay. It just sounded so right in my head, you know?"

"Don't worry, little guy," Jay grinned. Nya just smiled kindly at the flustered boy.

"Sensei and I are both ready to present our ideas, Kai," Zane interrupted as he noticed that Kai was still waiting for everyone to get back on topic.

The Ninja in red raised an eyebrow. "Glad to hear it," he said shortly.

"Yeah, Lloyd and I are ready as well, Kai," Cole said, giving his teacher a nod.

Kai gestured to the front of the room. "Since Jay's so confidant, he and Nya can start," There wasn't any recognition in his voice. There wasn't any _emotion_ in his voice. Not even when he said his own sister's name.

That certainly killed the mood.

Sombrely, Jay and Nya made their way to the table.

"Right, so the deodorant can be sprayed into an attacker's eyes and the keys can be used like claws if you slot them between your fingers when you make a fist…"

* * *

Jay and Nya's list had actually been quiet creative, and the pair had successfully identified at least one way to use each object as a weapon.

Once they had finished, Kai simply nodded. "Thank you. Cole and Lloyd, it's your turn now,"

"Sure thing," Cole calmly led the way to the front of the room, with a timid Lloyd walking close behind him. The Green Ninja glanced at Kai anxiously for a brief moment, before awkwardly looking away. Normally Lloyd wouldn't have been bothered by the idea of presenting to the team of Ninja, but the idea of having Kai judging his work scared him.

_Kai._

_But at the same time… this person was _not_ Kai. Not his honorary older brother. Not his best friend. _

_But Lloyd still remembers…(Kai. A smirk. A laugh. A ridiculously life threatening, hair raising stunt pulled in the name of 'awesomeness' and 'I did it coz it was there, bro!'. A pulsing ball of wild, bright, brilliant energy. A _best _friend.) …But Lloyd wonders… does Kai still remember?_

_Kai. A blank look. An emotionless stone front. A stance that radiates firm control. The swift but silent movement of some who has fought for their life far too many times… _

_A (dead, so very __dead__) ghost of all that once was, but never would be again. _

Lloyd didn't know if he should shudder with fear at the idea of Kai judging his work (because everything Kai does now is so controlled and precise. What would the consequences be if Lloyd's work isn't precise or good enough?) or should he silently sob (because this is not the Kai that left them all those weeks ago)?

Nervously, Lloyd shuffled closer to Cole, looking away from the Ninja in red who used to be his friend butwasn'tanymore. He wished things were different.

"Stop," Kai ordered suddenly. And Lloyd had to try hard not to flinch because the order sounded so empty and so dead and so _wrong_ coming from his spiky-haired hero.

Lloyd wondered what the Master of Earth was making of this and he looked at the Ninja clad in black. Cole simply obeyed Kai's order while raising one questioning eyebrow at his team mate "Yea?" he asked mildly, his relaxed tone contrasting with Kai's emotionless tone.

Lloyd began fidgeting with the material of his gi and started to become even more worried.

"Lloyd can do the presentation by himself," Kai said abruptly. "Please sit back down, Cole," his tone clearly communicated that it wasn't a request.

Cole nodded, handing the list to Lloyd and giving the boy a reassuring smile and pat on the shoulder. The Green Ninja looked terrified at the prospect of presenting to the rest of the team (to _Kai_) alone.

"I, um, I... I," The young boy stuttered nervously as Cole sat back down.

Had anyone been looking closely at Kai, they would have seen his eyes soften slightly. It wasn't so much like warmth entered his expression, but the coldness of his eyes decreased.

"Go on, Lloyd," had anyone been listening carefully, they would have heard a small spark of sympathy and _it's alright, I know this is hard but I also know you can do it _softly woven through Kai's voice- perhaps faintly similar to morning light gently filtering through the treetops of a dark forest which was still locked in nightfall. Subtle. Soft. But so undeniably _there_ that if you were searching for it, you would certainly find it.

Unknown to Kai, Cole and Sensei Wu had been watching closely and listening carefully. And they could only guess as to why the faintest ghost of the old Kai had suddenly appeared.

(Like a fragile flame in a cold breeze. There one moment, but extinguished the next.)

Did Kai sympathise with Lloyd being singled out?

If so, then it raised the question of why Kai had singled him out in the first place. Was it to teach him? Wu and Cole would have been surprised to know that a similar questioning line of thought was running through Kai's mind.

The red Ninja told himself that the sudden compassion wasn't because he cared. He simply wanted to teach Lloyd. The boy may be at more risk from the gang because he was the Green Ninja and younger than everyone else, therefore making himself an easier and more valuable target. So the boy needed a bit more encouragement and a different style of teaching to learn the lesson and push his fear away.

That wasn't caring. That was simply being a good teacher. That was doing his job.

It wasn't because Kai _cared_.

(_Because he shouldn't care. He couldn't pay the price attachments came with and he wouldn't be the cause of anyone else having to pay it either_)

It _wasn't_ because he cared.

(_Caring got people killed_)

It _**wasn't**_ because he cared.

(_"I'll save you!" His breath rasped in his throat, burning like the cruel flames of a fire)_

It wasn't because he cared!

"_Now, she dies, Fireboy,"_

"Kai?"

"_And whose fault is it, Ninja?"_

"Kai! Ohmygosh, help! He's fallen over!"

"I can see that! Kai! Wake up!"

"_Who helped her escape?"_

"_Don't listen to him Kai! He's lying! You did what was right! Never forget that!"_

"Wake up, brother!"

"_Who did this, Fire Ninja?!"_

"Kai!"

_They were screaming his name. ('Kai!)'. But they were right. 'Kai' had done this. He- 'Kai'- had failed, and that had killed her._

'_Kai' deserved to die as well._

_So 'Kai' had died. _

"I didn't mean to kill her! I'm sorry!" the apology was ripped from his own lips before he could stop it. He knewknew_knew _better than to show weakness in front of them. But it was his fault and he should have saved her but he hadn't and now she was dead and it was all his fault and all his fault and apologising wouldn't make it go away because she was DEAD and it was **all his fault!**

_And now there was nothing left. He couldn't smile. There was nothing left but pain and sorrow and guilt and blame. _

_(emptiness)_

_(emotionless)_

_And 'Kai' was dead._

"Please wake up, Kai!"

_Why were they even asking? The Puppeteers never asked. They didn't need to ask for anything. Not when they had everything. _

_Besides, what _Kai _were they after_?_ 'Kai' was dead._

_(No grins, no comebacks, no laughter, no recklessness)_

_What would his team think if they could see him now?_

_Disappointment?_

_Betrayal?_

_Disapproval?_

_He felt so sick. So lost. _

"I order you to wake up!" the voice was strong and harsh now. Harsh like sharp rocks being eroded in strong, gusty winds. "I order you to stand up right NOW!" the tone demanded respect and oozed power.

**Power**.

Orders. Yes, he understood those. They were clear. Non-negotiable. Kai stood (not remembering how he had gotten on the ground in the first place- which was quite odd, really) and raised one hand in a salute. "Yes, sir," he ground out, stiffly holding the position (barely breathing) until -

"At ease," was spoken.

He thought it was odd that the voice sounded sad this time. **They** never sounded sad. Why should they? They were the most powerful group in the city- the country, even. They were the ones in control.

Weren't they?

Blinking in confusion, Kai looked around, taking in the wooden floors and wooden walls. Oh. He wasn't in the cell anymore. The Puppeteers weren't even here. He was at the Bounty… but what was going on? Who was the one giving orders, then? Why had the team been blaming him? They didn't even know what had happened!

This was weird. Everyone seemed so different. They were all… really sad.

Lloyd was looking at him with tears in his eyes.

Zane looked confused.

Jay- who had both arms wrapped carefully around Nya like she was made of glass - was speechless.

Nya was trembling so much that she couldn't remain standing without Jay's support.

Sensei Wu looked lost.

Kai narrowed his eyes. They were standing around him and he felt surrounded. And he didn't know why they were like this! _What the hell was going_- Kai swallowed; the question dying as he looked at the last member of the circle.

Cole- the one who had given the order, Kai realised as he recalled the voice- looked sickened. The red Ninja couldn't describe the horror and sadness imprinted on the Earth Master's face. His eyes were wider than usual but they had an odd glossiness to them. His hands fluttered uselessly at his sides- like broken butterflies trying to take flight. His mouth opened a few times, but no words came out. Even his shoulders were slumped in defeat and despair. Then a small drop rolled down his cheek and Kai realised that Cole- _Cole, the Leader, the strategist, the confident unbreakable friend_- was crying silently.

Why?

_The order._

Kai must have been imagining everything _(it was all a lie?)_ and he hadn't woken up to their voices.

"_Kai!" _They hadn't actually been blaming him- their voices had merged with what he thought had been happening.

But Cole's order had brought him back.

**Order:**_ the control of chaos._

**Order:**a type of political or social system.

**Order:**a sequence or specific pattern of things in relation to each other.

**Order: **_**a demand given by someone in power to an inferior where disobedience is not tolerated.**_

Cole had to _order_ him to wake up.

(To control the chaos in his mind).

(With a tone as harsh as the erosion of sharp stones in strong winds)

"Kai," Now Cole's voice was a haunted, ghostly whisper. "Why?"

Kai?

Why?

Why?

Kai?

The words sort of rhymed. Kai thought that was weird. "I…" he began, but couldn't finish his answer because didn't _know_ the answer. He didn't even know what Cole was asking.

('Why?'

Why _what_?)

He couldn't give an answer to a non-question.

No question. No answer.

But Cole had asked, hadn't he?

But that didn't make sense. But it did. But it didn't.

…wait, what?

Kai weakly raised one hand to his temple, trying to rub the growing headache away.

What was going on?

"Kai… the order," Cole said weakly (but that couldn't be right because Cole was _never_ weak). "You respond to orders… no matter what's happening. It was enough to wake you up when nothing else could."

Kai remained silent.

"Why? What did The Puppeteers _do_ to you?" Cole pressed.

Again, Kai remained silent.

Time seemed to freeze.

No one dared to breathe.

"You were _on the floor_ **screaming**! Hallucinating!" Cole yelled suddenly- the stillness shattering in the same way glass does when a knife is thrown through it. "Nothing else would wake you up! You show more responsiveness to an order than you do to your own team! Do you have any idea how terrible that is for the rest of us to watch?!" The Ninja of Earth closed his eyes, visibly fighting to regain control. Half a minute passed before he spoke again. "I'm sorry for yelling, but Kai you need to let us know what's going on. This cannot continue," he explained in a softer tone.

_Control. _

Kai shuddered.

Cole leaned forward, gently resting a hand on Kai's shoulder-not the one he had touched several days ago and gotten such a violent reaction from; he touched Kai's left shoulder this time- while maintaining eye contact with the Ninja in red. (Red like blood and fire, Cole realised.)

Kai was the first to look away.

Cole frowned, considering his next move carefully and wondering why the _hell _Sensei Wu wasn't the one dealing with this. But one glance at the Spinjitzu Master told Cole that Wu was just a clueless as he was.

Frickin' fantastic.

What was he supposed to do now? **Order** Kai to tell them?

No. Wrong approach. Kai might respond to orders, but it was probably more out of fear than anything else. There was no way Cole was going to do that. The very idea of frightening his own friend into giving answers made him sick - that would practically be interrogation.

Time for a different approach.

"What if this happens again?" Cole asked. "What if you lose control during a fight?" He kept watching Kai, knowing that the red Ninja would still be able to feel his gaze even though he was looking away.

"I won't," Kai's response was hard, but lacked energy. It sounded almost… tired. Weary. Defeated.

"Can you really take that chance?"

The red Ninja tensed, breaking away from Cole's touch and looking around the circle of Ninja anxiously. "It's none of your concern," he looked like a panicked animal trying to escape an enclosure. "You don't know what happened and you can't help anyway,"

Cole looked up at the circle of Ninja, quickly realising that their presence was making Kai feel cornered. "We need a moment, guys," he jerked his head in the direction of the door.

Nodding their understanding, the team carefully parted around Kai and reluctantly headed out of the room.

"Kai?" The space looked a little larger now that everyone had left. Hopefully Kai wouldn't feel quite as hemmed in and would be able to calm down.

He'd _better_ calm down.

Because Cole had just realised that the table holding weapons was still in the room. And all the weapons were within Kai's reach.

Cole groaned softly. He _really_ hadn't thought this one through.

If push came to shove and Kai freaked out enough to fight (Cole didn't want to doubt his friend, but he had to consider every possibility) then Cole would be in serious danger. He might be a good fighter, but Kai was lethal. His walk was balanced, smooth. Where Cole had practice, Kai had _experience_. Cole had never killed anyone before, but Kai _must _have. You didn't learn all that stuff about weapons without practical experience, after all.

He swallowed nervously. Everything about Kai was very… precise. He usually didn't expend energy needlessly. And he knew the practical side of using all the weapons in this room whereas Cole only knew the theory.

Great. _If I die, I'm blaming you, Sensei…_

It was time to get some answers. "So, Kai, what happened?" he asked, leaning against the table (in a stance that was meant to appear casual, but he didn't know if he had quite pulled it off. What with the rate his heart was pounding at and all that) while watching the other Ninja examine the weapons. _Don't even think about picking any of those up, bro. Pain isn't something I enjoy. I'm trusting you here…_

Kai picked up the pen.

Cole rubbed his sweaty hands on the rough material of his gi, but resisted the urge to move away or worse, reach for a weapon of his own. Kai hadn't attacked him yet. And Cole wasn't about to provoke him.

To Cole's surprise, the red ninja flopped down on the floor on the far end of the room and began to casually spin the object between his fingers.

_Too_ casually.

_He's worried. _

_He's trying to distract himself from his own fear. _

_The emotionless mask is cracking. _

"Kai, you haven't answered my question," Cole stated firmly. "What did The Puppeteers do?"

The pen stopped spinning.

Brown eyes flicked up and looked through gold eyelashes to meet Cole's gaze hesitantly.

Cole nodded back reassuringly. "I want to hear it. And I won't tell anyone else," he promised honestly.

Silence filled the room.

Kai looked away and began to spin the pen again, thoughts racing through his mind as fast as the pen spun through his fingers.

He couldn't do this.

He didn't want to do this. Cole shouldn't find out what had happened. He couldn't be trusted. He'd just tell everyone else like the good, responsible, protective team leader that he was.

But in protecting the others, he'd betray Kai.

_Don't do this. Don't trust him._

But then again…

_He trusted you enough to stay still when you picked up the pen, didn't he?_ A smooth, velvet voice spoke up in the back of his mind. _He's trustworthy. He's your leader._

_Your friend. _

Kai shook with indecision. Cou…could he tell Cole?

_He could help you. _Something whispered coaxingly.

_Or he could just tell everyone else everything_ Kai shot back.

The velvet voice almost laughed._ They're going to find out sometime. Are you going to give them the answers or will they take them from you? _

Worriedly, the quiet Ninja looked up at Cole again- who nodded back reassuringly.

Kai felt sick.

_Don'ttelldon'ttellmustn'ttell._

_Tell._

_He could help you. He trusted you. Tell him. _

_Don't!_

"Puppets," Kai whispered eventually, eyes growing wide.

Cole narrowed his eyes in confusion. "No, not puppets. The _Puppeteers_, Kai,"

"On strings," Kai continued, ignoring Cole's interruption as he curled himself into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest. "The Puppeteers pull the string to make the puppet dance," he looked so fearful that he almost appeared to be dazed.

"Kai, I know what a puppeteer does. I'm asking about the gang," Cole said gently.

Kai –suddenly volatile- stood up, throwing the pen away as he did so and shaking his head. "And I'm talking about the gang! Don't you get it? They are The** Puppeteers** and they _control_ the puppets! I _belong_ to them! The name is a metaphor!" agitated, he turned towards the wall, looking away from Cole.

"What?" The Master of Earth pushed himself off the table, all attempts to strike a causal pose forgotten.

"They make us live like puppets by controlling us with orders and fear and pain. Then they make us die like puppets if we disobey them. On a string! We couldn't escape their control!"

"They make you die… on a string?"

Kai turned around, a terrifying mix of horror and fear on his face. "That's how she died and they said it was all my fault even though they were the ones who killed her. They were toying with me! With us! We were puppets to them! Toys!"

Cole slowly walked across the room towards his trembling team mate. This created more questions than it answered. Who was 'she'? Why did 'she' die, and why was Kai so convinced it had been his fault? _How_ had she died? Thoughtfully, Cole ran a hand through his hair, coming to the decision that it would be best to ask these questions one at a time. Kai wouldn't be able to handle any more than that. "Kai, I don't understand. She died … _on a string_? Like a puppet? What does that mean?"

"It wasn't just her," Kai swallowed. "It happened to anyone who disobeyed orders,"

_We lived like puppets and they made us die like puppets. _

"What was 'it'?" Cole pressed softly- soft like small snowflakes falling noiselessly to snow-covered ground in the middle of winter.

Kai's haunted brown eyes (which looked far too _old_ to be part of such a young face) darted up to meet his own. And Cole was shocked to see that the emotionless wall had completely fallen away and now the underneath was entirely exposed.

_Pain._

_Mistrust._

_Blame._

_Agony._

_Guilt._

_Broken. _

And then Kai spoke and Cole knew that the heartbroken, raw voice of his friend would be engraved into his memory forever.

"The Puppeteers hung them."

* * *

**…**

**Um, yeah. Wasn't that just happy? Like rainbows and sparkly unicorns?**

**…**

Right. So, now we've got a bit more info about the bad guys… and they really don't sound like a nice bunch, do they?

Well, hopefully they don't, because that means that I've written them correctly! :)

And now the symbolism and metaphors are beginning to come into play (yeah, all those puppet references and stuff)… yippee! I just spent the past year learning all that stuff in English (about symbolism, that is, not about the puppets!) so it's cool to finally put the stuff to good use!

**Next Chapter:** _Kai and Cole continue to talk…_

…_*Writer sniggers* Like that's going to end well. _

**Have a good day/night, everyone! **


	9. Memory

**A/N:** This chapter was a pig of a thing to write. No offense to anyone who likes pigs! Or to the pigs themselves. Pigs are cute. I like pigs. *nods*. But argh, the emotions and stuff...grr.

**Reminder:** No slash is intended in the story, just brotherly friendship. :)

**Warning:** Madness and mentions of torture.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ninjago (property of Lego) or 'Bring Me to Life'- which is both an awesome song and the property of Evanescence.

* * *

"_How can you see into my eyes like open doors?  
Leading you down into my core,_

_where I've become so numb.  
Without a soul,_

_my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,  
until you find it there and_

_Lead it back… home.__**"**_

'_**Bring Me to Life'**__ by Evanescence. _

* * *

_And then Kai spoke and Cole knew that the heartbroken, raw voice of his friend would be engraved into his memory forever. _

"_The Puppeteers hung them."_

* * *

[ … Have you ever wondered what a battlefield would look like, had the conflict never taken place? Perhaps daisies would grow in long, green grass, gently tousled by a soft breeze. The field (yes, it would be a field- reminiscent of warm sunny days, not a hot, burning _hell_) would be alive with birds and growth (not death. There would be no fading screams from those who lost their lives (so unjustly) echoing down the halls of time).

Have you ever wondered what a tarnished piece of gold would look like without the corruption? Shiny, reflective. Polished perfection. Soft enough to mold with one's bare hands yet strong and resilient to stay in shape when it is most required. Gold shows unity- marriage rings; symbols of trust, eternal love and glory. Without tarnish, gold is beyond beautiful. Treat it well, and it will last forevermore.

Pictures, pictures.

Images, images.

_Memories, memories_…]

* * *

"_But Sensei, there have always been three! Three blind mice, three musketeers…" Jay explained hastily as Sensei Wu raised an eyebrow at his student. _

_Sensing that his Master was about to disagree before the team had time to make their point, Cole stepped in hurriedly. "Erh, what he's trying to say, Sensei Wu, is that the three of us have trained together. We're solid," the Master of Earth protested desperately, looking at the new Ninja out of the corner of his eye. _

_A cocky grin, hands sitting easily on hips… the new guy might be standing in the middle of the courtyard wearing nothing but red striped pajamas after just being attacked by three Ninja, but he looked completely relaxed. In fact, he was so relaxed that any outsider would probably think he owned the place. Cole scowled. He did not need this guy and his ego on his team._

"_Didn't look so solid to me," Mr Ego folded his arms carelessly and turned around to smirk at Cole, spiky hair (seriously? Who wore their hair like that, anyway?) swaying slightly with the easy movement._

_Behind his mask, Cole scowled._

_He couldn't believe this guy was going to be training with them._

* * *

"_Okay guys, let's chop-socky this lemonade stand! Cole, you got the plan?" Jay asked with a grin while the team finished surveying Samukai's camp._

_Cole nodded, turning to his left. "Yep. Kai, you-?" He halted abruptly mid-sentence as he realized that the red Ninja was not there. Biting back a growl, Cole turned back to his team mates. (Actual team mates, that was. Jay and Zane __always __had his back and knew when to follow his orders. Unlike a certain red Ninja…). _

_Why was Mr Ego part of the team? Cole had never met anyone as reckless or impatient as the red Ninja. Why didn't Sensei Wu listen to him? The idiot was going to get them all killed!_

* * *

"_Watch out bro! On your left!" Kai sailed through mid-air in a flip, landing beside Cole and taking out the incoming skeleton with a causal wave of his sword. "Good thing I've got your back, huh?" he paused briefly to grin at Cole, before turning back to the enemy. "If you ever need any assistance just give me a call!"_

_Cole rolled his eyes at Kai's back. Okay, the guy's ego was seriously annoying. But he was a good fighter; Cole would grudgingly give him that._

* * *

"_Dude, there is no way you're going to make that jump," Cole rolled his eyes at his friend, who was currently contemplating whether it would be possible to travel across the training courtyard using only objects over five meters tall._

_Kai smirked back at Cole knowingly. "You wanna bet on that, bro?" he asked while mentally calculating the distance from the rooftop they were standing on to the top of the pillar in the middle of the courtyard._

_Cole shook his head. "No, coz I'll need the money to pay for your hospitalization when you fall on your face,"_

"_Don't talk about my face like that! You're just jealous of my good looks!" Kai gave a mock scowl._

_Cole returned the scowl with a confused look. "__**What **__good looks?"_

_Kai's scowl morphed into a good natured grin. "Ha. You don't even know what they are. Coz you don't have any,"_

"_I've got plenty, thanks. And I'd better let you know that your ego's gonna take quite a bruising when you fall,"_

"_Oh please, like I'd ever fail at something as tame as this!" Kai moved to the end of the roof, preparing for a run up. "It'll be easy," he snorted confidently. _

_Cole sighed while watching his impulsive brother. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're crazy?"_

"_Yeah. I took it as a compliment,"_

"_It probably wasn't intended that way,"_

"_Hey! It might have been! You never know."_

"_Don't jump," Cole groaned, covering his eyes as Kai began to run across the roof. "Argh, Kai, you're such an idiot,"_

"_I'll take that as a compliment as well!" With a wicked laugh, the Ninja flung himself off the roof, sailed through the air…_

… _Only to get tangled in the sail which hung underneath the tall pillar. "Oops," _

_Cole burst into laughter while his friend scrambled for a hand hold in the slippery canvas material. "Tame? Easy? Dude, you have no idea how ridiculous you look right now," Losing it completely, the _mature, calm, composed_ Earth Ninja doubled over with laughter. Unfortunately, he 'doubled over' a bit too far and lost his balance, so resorted to rolling around on the roof in hysterics while throwing out the clichéd one liner: "Hang in there, Kai!"_

"_Shut up and go get me a ladder!" Kai snapped as he finally found a handhold._

_Pulling himself back up, Cole took another look at his friend and sniggered. "Oh, man up and jump down,"_

"_I can't do that! Do you have any _idea _how bad the ground shock is going to be from this height?"_

"_That's what you get for jumping, you crazy idiot." Cole laughed, before sarcastically asking, "Gonna take _that_ as a compliment?"_

"…_LADDER!"_

* * *

Cole closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

_Oh, Kai…_

_Everything has just fallen…fallen _so_ far. _

Swallowing dryly, the (_solid as rock, he must. Stay. Solid_) Earth Master focused on pushing all the painful memories aside and letting go of the small, painful voice which asked '_Why can't it be the same? Why can't we go back?'_

(Ignoring the memories was like trying to throw gem stones away. Like leaving something very precious, extremely rare and exceptionally beautiful in a gutter to rot and decay. But even though breaking gem stones is hard, Cole managed somehow). He opened his eyes slowly, the broken voice of his friend still seeming to echo around the silent room.

"_The Puppeteers hung them,"_

Cole thought his own trembling heart had just broken. Was there anything in the world which was worse than watching your best friend (who you trusted with your_ life_) falling to the floor screaming as you stood by helplessly?

Was there anything worse than hearing them speak in a raw, broken voice knowing you couldn't _fix _it because you didn't evenknow what was _broken_?

Was there anything worse than giving them a simple, reassuring touch only to have them flinch violently and skitter away from you as if burnt; their mistrust visible with each panicked step they took?

Was there anything worse than looking into their eyes and seeing nothing but a deep, agonizing, _burning_ pain?

_Yeah_, Cole reflected sadly as he looked up at Kai, who was shaking silently. _There was_.

It was knowing that once, they lived with passion; with purpose.

Once, joy colored their voice.

Once, they smiled and it reflected in their eyes.

It was knowing that once, once _so long ago_, they trusted _you_.

(Once, the battleground _had_ been a field).

"Oh, Kai…" The words slipped out softly even though Cole hadn't intended them to. It was just that… he didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to say.

… Oh, why the hell was he so damn _useless_ in this situation? Kai was _breaking_ and he couldn't fix it! Cole stiffened furiously- shaking with anger and hopelessness.

He realized too late that it was the wrong thing to do.

Kai's head snapped up as soon as he sensed Cole's sudden anger. Brown eyes shining with panic, the Ninja in red (red like blood and fire) anxiously moved to the other end of the room.

(When pressure builds in the earth's core, tectonic plates shift and deep fissures are formed).

Hurriedly, Cole tried to fix his uncharacteristic slip. "I'm sorry. It's okay, Kai. I'm not angry with you," Kai remained silent, looking up at him with guarded eyes. Cole took a hesitant step forward. "I'm not going to hurt you,"

(Don't let the cracks cause division. Don't let anything _break_.)

Kai immediately took a step back from Cole's approaching figure. (_"Haha, Fireboy, we aren't going to hurt you!" The 'kind' voice was poisoned with twisted mirth and Kai knew that 'hurting him' was exactly what they were about to do.)_

Suddenly,the training room had transformed into a (the) cell, and Kai wondered how he'd become so blind.

This was… this was…

Another interrogation.

Cole was angry with him. Cole wanted answers from him. And he'd made it so that they were alone by sending everyone else out of the room. _Alone_. Where no one else could help him. Cole had _lied_.

Liar.

Liar.

Liar.

He wasn't trying to help Kai.

_No, please, not __**Cole**_**.**

He was going to get the answers with force.

Force.

_(Barely conscious, he dimly registered the sound of rope whipping through the air. And even though the fog of nothingness was growing , his senses still exploded in agony when the rope connected with his back. "Tell me the location of the other Ninja NOW, you useless piece of-" Finally (thankfully) passing out, Kai didn't hear anything else.)_

_Not Cole!_

_("Chain him down! Stupid Puppet keeps struggling!")_

_I trusted you! _

_("Pass me the knife, you incompetent idiot! I'll make him talk,"_

"_Hey! It's not my fault he keeps resisting!")_

Frantically, Kai looked around the room for the door, wild eyes not registering the way Cole's face fell into a pained expression or how his empty (weaponless) hands hung helplessly.

The door was behind Cole.

_("You're trapped now, aren't ya? Brat.")_

He'd trusted Cole!

…and now... now, knowing that the trust was worthless because Cole _only_ wanted answers and was willing to hurt him to get what he wanted… he couldn't, he couldn't…

The one person he thought he could trus-

_("So sweet that you want to protect your friends, Fireboy,")_

The one person he had hesitantly reached out to-

_("Tell us where they are. Make your suffering stop,")_

The one person he had shown weakness for-

_("We'll put down the whip and knife if you just tell us,")_

-Didn't care.

_("Fine. Have it your way, Puppet. Protect your precious friends," the man turned around to leave the cell. "Keep at it until he breaks!")_

Cole just didn't…. just didn't…

_("I order you to stand up right NOW!")_ Orders. Cole was in charge. Kai was nothing but a puzzle to be solved. A report to be written. A secret to be divided and shared out amongst brothers.

….Cole just _didn't care_.

Choking on gasps of air, Kai blindly stumbled backwards, running into the wall.

_IthoughtIcouldtrustyou!_

It was getting harder to breathe.

_If he couldn't trust Cole, then was there anything left?_

He could imagine it now; Cole picking up the knife on the table…

_Was everyone against him?_

…. The silver blade slicing (ripping) through his skin…

_He was drowning._

(Cole had used him!)

_There's no more air._

…. Beads of crimson pooling everywhere…

Cole would…

Cole would torture-

_PleasepleasepleaseNO!_

_Don't do this!_

Cole (the one person he thought he could trust) was going to (please don't do this) pick up the knife (blinding agony, burning red, _blood_ and _fire_) to, to… torture him.

And then Kai _broke_.

Broke.

(The word implies noise; a last cry as the fortress falls or a cracking as glass shatters.)

But Kai broke silently. He didn't scream. He didn't cry. (Maybe he _was_ falling and shattering. But there was nothing left to scream or cry _for_).

So he just closed his eyes tiredly in defeat and _gave up._

* * *

[…When the Earth breaks, you see the cracks appear. You hear the rumbles. You_ feel_ it break.

But when Fire breaks… it simply extinguishes. Maybe that's because unlike Earth, Fire wasn't a solid substance to begin with. Rather, it dances as it pleases and is harder to control.

(You can take the Earth at face value. But to understand Fire, one must look deeper.)

The Earth is straightforward, upfront and honest. But Fire is blindingly bright, and anything can hide within in its flames (such as its fragility and dependence on fuel); behind its powerful front.

Fire and Earth. Opposing elements. Both play a key part in sustaining life and yet each is lethal if abused (Earthquakes. Wild fires.).

Death.

Death.

Unlike Earth, the destruction of Fire is like death: the soft exhale of one last breath as another life silently slips away.

No crashing cymbals, no flash of light. No rumbling, no cracks. Nothing.

It's simply death.]

* * *

Cole watched in horror as…_ something_ left Kai. (But Kai had so very little left and he couldn't afford to lose any more of it).

The trembling Ninja's eyelids abruptly slid shut, defeat defined in every line of his body.

"Kai?" Cole called worriedly as his friend began to sway. There was no response so Cole raced across the room, just in time to catch Kai before he hit the floor. "It's okay, Kai," said Ninja shuddered in his grasp as Cole easily lowered him to the floor and eased him into a sitting position against the wall.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" His hands came up, as if he sensed an incoming strike and was trying to halfheartedly block it.

Cole let go of Kai. "Just breathe," he instructed softly, sitting down next to his friend. "I'm not going to hurt you. Why would I want to do that?"

Kai didn't reply and something in Cole's gut clenched.

They must've…

"Did _they_ hurt you?" Cole asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

But no answer came. Kai remained silent, causing Cole to look at him- really look at him. Not just see the panic or the worry or get sidetracked by wishful thoughts of everything returning to normal. But actually look _past_ the emotions and evaluate at the physical side of Kai.

There were bags under his eyes and he seemed to be much thinner than Cole remembered- it had been surprisingly easy to support his weight. There was a cut on his cheek and another on his hand which disappeared up under the material of his gi. Cole was willing to bet that there would be more cuts and injuries underneath the rough cloth.

It confirmed what Cole suspected.

Kai had been tortured.

A silence fell between the two Ninja for a full minute before Kai quietly spoke up. "You're not going to… going to ask any more questions?" His voice was tentative; soft. Like a lost child's.

Cole nodded in affirmation. "No more questions," he assured Kai gently.

Nothing mattered now. Getting answers seemed pointless with the revelation of how terribly Kai had been tormented. Sickened, Cole reached out a hand, closing his fingers around Kai's (too thin) wrist and sliding the sleeve up. He didn't want to see this. But Kai had endured having it done, so Cole was going to check that there was no permanent damage.

_Do it for Kai. _

At the sudden touch, Kai jerked his hand away, but Cole held on. "Hang on, bro. You've got a cut here. I want to make sure it's not infected,"

Kai looked panicked. "You don't need to-"

"Just trust me, okay?" Cole replied. Kai remained tense, but let Cole roll the sleeve up without further protest. "That's it. Nice and easy," Cole murmured while inspecting the injury. Fortunately, the cut didn't seem to be too deep, but it was rather long- it went right up Kai's forearm, stopping just past the elbow. (A long flash of red on a tanned brown background). Assured that it wasn't infected (but still looked beyond painful), Cole was about to drop the sleeve, but paused as he noticed that something else was beneath the red material. "Huh?" he asked, rolling the sleeve up further.

It was a burn.

The shape of a hideous stick figure puppet was burnt onto (_into_) Kai's shoulder. Underneath the horrid image were several numbers and a letter: P26.

Cole looked away, feeling nauseated.

What did it mean?

Prisoner 26?

Property 26?

_Puppet 26?_

Dimly Cole realized that what it meant didn't matter. Not when Kai had been burnt. Branded.

_Kai had been branded. _

_Kai._

_Branded._

The two words didn't belong together.

Shouldn't be put together.

(Fire burning fire).

It shouldn't –didn't- work.

Disgusted, Cole shuddered. This must have been why Kai had reacted so violently to him touching his shoulder several days ago. Actually, Cole didn't blame Kai for freaking out if _this_ was what he'd touched.

(How could anyone be cruel enough to do this deliberately?)

Underneath Cole's fingertips, Kai trembled again.

"Hey, it's okay," Cole turned his attention back to his friend, who had gone completely pale. His eyes were closed, but Cole was sitting close enough to notice the two small trails of moisture running down his face.

Kai was crying.

The unbreakable mask was finally gone, and behind it lived a far more fragile, broken soul than Cole had ever thought.

(Whoever knew that such an emotionless front could disguise something like this?)

Kai never cried.

Wordlessly, Cole slipped his arms around Kai in a loose embrace. The Ninja in red stiffened at the contact, but the Master of Earth wasn't going to let go of him that easily.

Kai had been running from sharing his torment for long enough. Cole could see now that asking questions and making Kai share what had happened wasn't the right way to help. Kai needed to be supported, not forced to relive the whole nightmare again.

Ten seconds had passed, and Kai was still tense in Cole's hold. But the Earth is stable, strong and resilient and Cole wasn't the Master of Earth for nothing. He didn't tighten his hold, but made sure to not loosen it, either. "It's okay to lean on me, Kai,"

His patience soon paid off. After several more awkward seconds of tension, Kai surprised Cole by slowly (hesitantly) leaning into the hug and resting his (far too pale) face on Cole's shoulder. He was still shaking and Cole could tell from his irregular breathing that he was quietly sobbing.

"It's all over now," Cole whispered, gently ruffling Kai's spiky hair. His head still on Cole's shoulder, Kai nodded, hands weakly clutching at the rough fabric of Cole's gi. "You're safe," Kai's head bobbed in another nod, before returning to Cole's shoulder as he leaned further into the hug.

In a tone soft with wonderment, Kai repeated the word. "Safe,"

Cole felt pained to realize that it had probably been a long time since Kai had last felt like that. "Yeah, you're safe," he murmured, while gently rubbing Kai's unscarred shoulder.

It was a pleasant surprise when Kai didn't move away or stiffen at the touch.

After several more minutes, Kai's muffled sobs began to subside and his breathing became more regular. But he still made no move to pull away, so Cole continued to hold him, understanding that after a month of pain and loss he needed all the support he could get.

The red Ninja might have stopped shaking, but he was still tense, so the Earth Ninja decided that getting rid of that anxiety was his top priority.

But there was one slight problem…

How was he going to do that?

How was he meant to make Kai fully calm down?

(_"Haha, you don't even know what they are. Coz you don't have any," Kai gave a good natured grin.)_

The answer came easily. _Make him laugh._

"Did you know that Lloyd developed a crush on a waitress while you were gone?" Cole asked.

The brown spikes next to Cole's face dipped as Kai shook his head. "No," he replied, the sound muffled by Cole's gi.

"Oh, it was so hilarious. We went out for dinner on night about a week ago and we had this really nice waitress serving our table. She was blonde and I reckon she had a slight addiction to eyeliner. You could see the whites of her eyes, but only because there was a black ring around them. But despite that, she was real friendly and chatty. Heck, Even Jay admitted that she was cute when we got home, although Nya hit him with her handbag for that comment," Cole shifted position slightly, noticing with no small amount of delight that some of Kai's tension had disappeared during his rambling. The grip on his gi had definitely slackened. "Anyway, during dinner, Lloyd would not stop staring at her. And when she gave him the kiddie's ice cream he had this huge blush. It was so funny,"

"Does he still like her?"

Cole chuckled. "Nope, the wedding ring on her finger changed his mind. Poor little guy was heartbroken. First girl he likes is already married,"

The spikes bobbed again, and a few more seconds passed before Kai slowly pulled out of the hug, leaning back against the wall. His eyes were puffy, but Cole was sure he was happier than he had been before. Some of the color had returned to his face, as well.

But despite these changes, Cole knew that his friend wasn't ready to be left alone- or left with anyone else, he realized. Kai still didn't trust the rest of the team, which meant that Cole was the only one who could do anything with him.

So… where to from here? Cole looked up at the clock on the wall. "Hey, I've got lunch duty now. Wanna help me cook?"

* * *

The Bounty's living room was silent.

As in; graveyard silent.

The silence of death.

(Flames being broken).

Lloyd hated it. The silence reflected in the four wooden walls of the room, echoed in the faces of the five silent beings who occupied the room. It just surrounded them, hanging thickly in the air. And Lloyd_ hated_ it.

No one knew what was going on with Kai. And the silence meant that Kai and Cole weren't back yet. And therefore that meant that they were still in the room with all the weapons.

With a quiet sigh of (not worry. He was not freaked out. Cole and Kai never got scared, so the Green Ninja did not either) _boredom_, he looked around the room.

Zane and Sensei Wu, who were sitting down the far end of the room, had gone into a meditative trance. They both looked peaceful.

Lloyd thought that anyone who could be peaceful now was seriously mad.

He turned to look at Jay and Nya. The two were sitting on the couch; Nya crying silently (oh, how he hated that word!) while Jay hugged her wordlessly.

"How long is a moment?" Lloyd questioned, breaking the silence.

But the silence still hung in the room like a predator waiting to strike.

Jay looked up. "What do you mean, kid?"

He'd never heard the Master of Lightening sound so sad before. "Cole said he needed a moment with Kai. Is it up yet? Is Kai okay?"

"We're all worried about Kai. No one knows what is happening with him, Lloyd. All we can do is hope Cole knows what he's doing,"

"But how long will it take?"

"However long he needs,"

Lloyd didn't know if Jay was talking about Cole or Kai. But he didn't dare ask when everyone else was obviously grieving.

Swiftly, the silence returned.

* * *

Cole gently dropped the sleeve and turned away.

Part of Kai wondered what Cole had made of the scar.

'P26'.

Puppet 26.

But another part really didn't care (had let go; detached) because the darkened lie had been exposed to daylight and now…now Cole knew…

… that Kai was nothing more than property of The Puppeteers.

No, wait. Nothing more than a _puppet_ of The Puppeteers.

Kai felt weak just thinking about it.

He belonged… was powerless…controlled.

He was controlled by them!

Unbidden, a tear ran down his face. But he ignored it because it only showed how weak he was.

_Weak… powerless… controlled…_

_("You belong to us, Fireboy!")_

He couldn't…

He just….

He hated how weak he was right now.

_("Nowhere to run!")_

Kai panicked as Cole's arms closed around him unexpectedly. His eyes (which had NOT been crying. He did NOT show weakness) flicked open and he stiffened.

_Trapped. _

Cole had, Cole had… trapped him.

(_Arms pinned down, struggling against the chains as-)_

But he just couldn't find the strength to push Cole away.

_Because when the one person you thought you could trust turns against you, even fighting for survival seems pointless. _

Please,pleaseletgo!

Everything was falling.

(_On the way down…)_

The grip didn't tighten, and Kai realized in surprise that his arms were still free; Cole hadn't tied them up.

What was, what was…?

What was going on?

Cole's arms were wrapped around his shoulders, but they weren't exerting any pressure. The gesture wasn't threatening. They were simply… there.

Cole was hugging him.

Why?

He didn't like this. Cole was too close.

(Close enough to _hurt him)_

"It's okay to lean on me, Kai," Cole spoke reassuringly.

But Kai ignored it. (Block it out. Wash it all away). Cole was just saying that.

Didn't mean it.

No.

…Right?

Kai trembled with indecision.

The hurt and helplessness grew.

Cole's arms remained around him.

Would… would Cole really not ask any more questions?

Would he support him?

Was… was this _sincere_?

Would he be…_safe_? After so much _hurt_ and _lost_ and _alone_ and _hopeless_ and _controlled_ and _pain_ and, and…

Hesitantly, Kai leant forward.

Further, further… until there was just the smallest amount of space separating them.

And then his head touched Cole's shoulder and the dam broke.

* * *

"What do you guys want for lunch?" Cole asked, strolling casually into the living room with Kai following him quietly. Everyone looked up in surprise, taking in the dark patch on Cole's shoulder and the red rims underneath Kai's eyes.

Kai looked away, refusing to meet anyone else's gaze. When their scrutinizing continued, Kai shuffled closer to Cole.

For the audience of Ninja (and a Samurai), it was hard not to miss the '_I'm here. It's okay' _look Cole sent Kai, or the way Kai's shoulder's sagged with relief when he saw it.

"Uh, anything you're making will be fine," Jay said awkwardly.

Nya shrugged. "If you're struggling for ideas, a salad would be nice,"

Lloyd jumped at that. "Nya, you don't need a salad! You don't carry all the weight in the relationship! You're not fat! I told you! It was all a mistake!"

Nya gave a small smirk. "It's not for me, Lloyd," Despite her own red rimmed eyes, she grinned wickedly as the green Ninja sighed with relief. "It's for you!"

"Hey, wait, what? That's not fair!" Lloyd groaned, slumping back onto the wooden floor. "I hate lettuce!"

Lloyd's dislike for vegetables was legendary.

Cole turned to look at Kai with a grin. "Reckon we should add tomatoes as well?"

"Carrots, too," Kai nodded.

Cole almost choked. Quickly covering up his shock, he grinned. "Sounds like a plan." He replied, leading the way to the kitchen.

Was it just his imagination, or had Kai's eyes shown a small spark of… amusement?

* * *

[…The planet we live on is not formed only from earth. Under the crust lies a hot, molten mix of fire, rock and metal.

Fire and Earth.

Two different elements working together under the surface- away from human eyes, allowing life to exist.

Without the molten mixture there would be no magnetic field. No magnetic poles. Compasses would be useless and many would lose their way.

Without the molten mixture, there would be no surface for the continents to rest on and everything would collapse in on itself. Everything would_ fall_.

Isn't it odd how two elements that balance each other out are required for life? For Fire destroys the face of the Earth and when Earth is thrown on a Fire, the flames become suffocated.

Yet both elements rely on each other to survive and to allow _others_ to survive.

Working together, they are unstoppable.

Fire and Earth…]

* * *

**Okay, not a lot of information was revealed there. But there were some **_**Turning Points**_** (Haha, see what I did there, **_**ArwynandCole**_**? ;) ) for our two Ninja and their relationship. **

**Some stuff about this chapter:**

-Lloyd's crush on the waitress was inspired by my own brother crushing on a waitress when we were on holiday. Poor little guy. I still haven't stopped teasing him about it.

-I like writing conflict. Writing the make-up part which follows on is harder. Because there a line between cute/fluffy and cheesy and I don't know where it is. So, yeah. Apologies for any cheesy-ness.

-The first two of Cole's memories were taken from Season One of Ninjago- the other two I made up.

-Parts of this chapter were heavily inspired by comments made in reviews. I'm sure you'll recognise them!

So, now, thanks to everyone who reviewed! Words cannot describe how much all your comments mean to me! They were an inspiration while writing this difficult chapter! I would reply to them here (and I know I said I would try to!), but I'm due for a job interview soon (scary stuff, wish me luck?) so it'll have to wait! So very sorry!

Crud. Even my author's notes do the crazy bracket thing. Awkward.

**See you all next time**!


	10. Trust

**A/N: Here's chappie 10! Double digits!**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ninjago (Lego does) or 'Understanding', which belongs to Evanescence.

* * *

"_Cast me not away.  
Say you'll be with me.  
For I know,  
I cannot bear it all alone.__**"**_

'_**Understanding (Wash It All Away)'**__ by Evanescence._

* * *

"What should we make besides salad?" Cole asked as he entered the kitchen, Kai close behind him.

He had been expecting Kai to not answer, so was surprised when an actual response was given, albeit quietly. "What other things do we have?" Kai asked, looking around the kitchen.

"I'll check the pantry. Could you have a look in the fridge?" Resting a gentle hand on Kai's shoulder, the Master of Earth gestured across the room. "Zane cleared the thing out a while ago, complaining that we kept it in a really messy state. Get this; he actually put all the vegetables_ in_ _the veggie_ _compartment_ and the meat _on the meat tray_. I don't know _what_ he was thinking. And I _still_ can't find where some of the stuff is," Normally, Cole wouldn't have talked _quite_ so much about the fridge. It wasn't a very interesting topic. But since Kai seemed to like listening to him talk, he was willing to chatter on a bit more than usual. "I mean… why does our fridge have separate compartments for fruit and vegetables? It just makes finding the tomatoes hard. What with the whole 'tomatoes are fruit but they don't go in fruit salads' logic and stuff. Does Zane put them with the apples or with the carrots?"

Kai shrugged. "I think tomatoes can also be kept out of the fridge," he volunteered softly.

Cole sighed. "… _Great_. Well, if you see them, could you tell me? Otherwise we'll have to start putting up 'wanted' posters or something,"

Quietly, Kai nodded, walking towards the fridge while Cole turned to open the pantry. "Argh! He's done the same thing in here! What is it _with_ that Nindroid and logic?"

* * *

"So, know any good recipes with eggs, mashed potatoes, bread, flour, carrots, celery, butter or apples in them? I think there's some lettuce around here as well, but that's needed for the salad,"

Kai shook his head.

"Well that's okay. I don't either," Cole frowned at the large pile of ingredients on the bench. "I suppose we could mix the vegetables into the mashed potato and fry it or something. Or we could always go for the scrambled eggs on toast approach. What's the plan of attack gonna be?"

Kai shrugged, but watched on with interest. Cole noticed that he did that a lot- he seemed to be constantly assessing everything around him; quietly taking everything in and processing it. It didn't seem to be out of uneasiness at the moment, but Cole didn't think it was from simple curiosity, either. He made a mental note to keep an eye on Kai. He didn't want him to find something to be out of place and get upset by it. It wasn't something the 'old' Kai had done, and Cole didn't know if he should be worried by it or not.

"I suppose we'd better use up the mashed potato," Cole decided. "Could you wash the lettuce and peel the carrots for the salad? I'll heat the frying pan up and get the potato cakes ready," he wasn't going to let Kai near anything hot. To do so would be cruel, considering what was on Kai's shoulder.

"Okay," Kai nodded.

Cole was about to go in search of the frying pan, but stopped as another instruction came to mind. "Make sure the water's not hot when you wash the lettuce, okay?" he asked. Kai gave him a questioning look. "It's not good for the leaves," Cole explained. Actually, he had no idea if it was or not. But he didn't want Kai to get burnt.

Kai gave Cole another nod and turned to face the sink, watching as the cold water ran down the lettuce leaves. This… this wasn't too bad, actually.

He wondered if Cole had set this arrangement up deliberately- he would wash the vegetables while Cole dealt with the (hot) frying pan.

'_-I'll heat up the frying pan,'_

(**Heat**)

Kai hated heat.

Did that mean that Cole…_ understood_?

_(The twisted piece of metal glowed as it left the fire. It was the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen; the bright orange colour slicing through air before being pressed on(in)to-)_

The cold water flowed over his fingers and swirled away down the plug hole.

(_Smoke twisting_)

_Cold _water. It didn't burn him.

(_Arm on fire; in agony_)

* * *

**[**…He sometimes wonders why people describe agony as being beautiful.

'The song is agonizingly beautiful' or suchlike.

It's _sick_.

Agony is true pain- something that cannot be blocked out, cannot be opposed. When you're in agony, you cannot feel or think about anything else, because nothing else _exists_.

There's nothing beautiful about_ real_ pain.

Nothing poetic about watching your blood ooze onto a cold, unforgiving floor while the beatings continue and your cries for _all of it to stop_ go unheard.

Nothing gorgeous about hearing the screams of other cell mates echoing down long, empty halls away into the night as they are harvested for answers, knowing that your turn will be coming soon (because it always does).

Nothing heart-warming about finding comfort in unconsciousness- when the only way to stop the agony is by letting your senses become so overwhelmed with the pain that you black out.

Nothing is breath-taking about watching another person die, knowing that their life was wasted needlessly in another's sick game.

When you've experienced real agony, you understand that _nothing_ is agonizingly beautiful.

For agony _is not_ beautiful.

It leads to death.

It's a part of death.

(Because when you're in agony, something _always_ dies.)

… Death.

(The breaking of flames, the tumbling of towers, the silence of graveyards, the solitude of headstones, the darkness of drowning, the echoes of guilt (_"…I should have done more…")_ and the cries of blame.)

… There's nothing beautiful about death, either.**]**

* * *

The cold water didn't burn.

Just washed it all away.

Washed _everything_ away.

_The heat, the ash, the pain…_

Leaving… leaving _what_?

What was left?

_Was_ there anything left?

(Was there gold at the bottom of the pan? Was there Hope at the bottom of Pandora's box?)

Kai didn't know.

But he did know that the lettuce was clean, so he pulled the dripping leaves out of the sink and went to get a paper towel. The roll was kept next to the stove, and he-

Stove.

Frying pan.

_Heat._

Kai stopped walking.

_Burningburningburning._

He could hear it.

_Burningburningburning._

He could smell it.

(_He was choking on the smoke which-_)

The smell of burning… destruction… pain. It wove through the air; gnarled tendrils reaching out and getting ensnarled in his throat as he breathed.

_Choking._

_Suffocating. _

_Drowning in fire._

Kai took a shaky step backwards. The oil in the pan hissed.

Cole, noticing that Kai had gone from 'analytical' to 'tense', looked up from the stove. "Whatcha looking for?" he asked easily, flipping the potato cakes as he spoke.

"The um… um, the… paper towels," they were within Kai's reach but he didn't… he couldn't…

The oil in the frying pan spat and he flinched in fright.

_("Haha! We're playing with fire, boys… only fire is the one getting burnt!")_

Cole handed the roll to him. "How's the salad going, Kai?"

Kai coughed (gnarled tendrils still thick in his throat) trying to get rid of the bitter smell. The frying pan smiled innocently up at him. _Of _course_ I didn't mean to hurt you, boy._

"Kai?"

_Choking._

The pan spat again, firing an oily drop in Kai's direction.

_Too close_.

Kai took another step back. The frying pan's grin seemed to widen; the edges of the expression twisting with malice. _Scared of me?_

"Hey, it's okay," Cole quickly placed the spatula down, looping an arm around Kai's shoulders in a reassuring embrace while gently guiding him away from the stove. "Is all the lettuce washed?"

_Wash it all away (_Does any gold still remain at the bottom of the pan? Or was it washed away as well?).

Kai nodded, his shoulders sagging with relief. "Yeah,"

Cole grinned. "Good. Could you peel the carrots, then?"

"Okay,"

"And if you need a hand with anything, just ask."

* * *

"What's the plan for this afternoon?" Jay asked, shovelling potato cakes and salad into his mouth in a quicker-than-lightening fashion.

"We will be finishing this morning's lesson. Cole and Lloyd still have their presentation to do, as do Zane and I," Sensei Wu said, taking a dignified sip from his teacup and raising an eyebrow at his student's eating style. "Although a lesson in table manners may also be called for…"

"Ooh, c'mon. Our lives _probably_ won't depend on how dignified we look while eating," Jay protested through a mouthful of lettuce.

"I'd be worried if they did," Zane chuckled. "Because you would have no hope for survival,"

"…That was a low blow, Zane,"

"Thank you, Jay. The pleasure was all mine,"

Jay rolled his eyes before returning to his meal.

Sensei Wu stood up. "I'll see you in the training room. And Cole, I need to speak with you before the afternoon lesson. Once you've finished your meal, could you please come to my quarters?"

"Um, okay, Sensei," Cole nodded, curious as to what the Master wanted to speak about.

Kai looked up, eyes tense. _Questions_. There was only one reason why Wu would want to see Cole privately.

Wu had questions.

Which meant he wanted answers.

Cole had answers.

_The brand, the hanging, how she died, his own torture, numerous cuts, his fear of heat… _

He'd given Cole too much. He should never have been so open.

Cole would… tell. He had to. Sensei Wu would make him.

(_…a secret to be divided and shared out amongst brothers…_)

"What's up, Kai?" Cole asked, breaking into Kai's thoughts.

Kai blinked. "Nothing,"

Cole gave him a questioning look. "You sure? You zoned out there for a moment-"

"It's fine," Kai cut in, voice emotionless.

Cole's eyes narrowed at the tone. _Please,_ _don't go back to speaking like that_. "Well, if you're sure…" he trailed off, uncertain. "I've got to talk to Sensei. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kai asked, his tone neither caring nor harsh. _Sell me out. I don't care. Everything means nothing now._

_Traitor-_

"I'm not gonna tell him anything," Cole gave his friend a smile and a reassuring pat on the back before exiting the room.

Kai waited half a minute before also leaving the table, heading for the training room. He had a lesson to prepare for.

And, the training room was right next to Sensei Wu's quarters.

* * *

"…And I'm saying, I made a promise. I'm not going to tell anyone else what he said. No disrespect intended, Sensei."

Sensei Wu had designed his quarters to be a peaceful place. Colourful woven mats, wide windows and burning incense gave the room a light, airy, meditative feel. With his arms folded and face set stubbornly, Cole looked out of place.

Sensei Wu clasped his hands behind his back and turned to face the window. "I understand the position that you are in, Cole. But you're the only one who has gotten close to Kai. I need you to get answers from him and report back to me. You also need to tell me all that he has told you so far," his tone was regretful, but also firm.

Cole shook his head. "I can't do that. I _promised_ him I wouldn't do that,"

"By refusing to do so, you are putting everyone else on board in danger. We need to know as much about them as possible if they are to be stopped. Kai's our best source of information. He got far deeper into the group than anyone else we know," Sensei Wu said, looking out at the stretch of dry sand, wishing things were not so complicated. But wishing would do no good in solving the matter at hand, so he dismissed the regretful thoughts. "All of Ninjago is at risk from this group. We owe it to the people to do everything we can in order to make their city safer. I don't like asking you to do this, but it really is our only hope,"

"Sensei, I can't," Cole protested.

"Others will die. Those that don't die will live in terror. You cannot refuse to do this,"

"I can't accept, either,"

They had come to a stalemate. Student and teacher stared at each other, each refusing to back down.

"Kai is your student," Cole reasoned- sticking to his guns. The Earth is strong and can be stubborn. Mountains don't just get up and move because someone asked, after all. "You know how badly he's been affected by this. We can't do anything to make him worse. He needs to be supported and reassured, not treated like an uncooperative source of information,"

Sensei Wu's eyes closed tiredly. "I know, Cole. But he is also our only hope,"

It takes a long time for a mountain to erode and Cole was not ready to stand down. "Shouldn't we be trying to help him, then? The only reason he trusted me in the first place was because I assured him I wouldn't say anything to anyone else. How will it look if I break that promise? He won't trust anyone again. He'll break. We'll lose our brother! And, we still won't have any information on this group and therefore can't help the people. It'll be a lose-lose situation," Cole debated.

Sensei Wu turned around, wrinkles creasing into a thoughtful frown. "Cole, you cannot lose a thousand lives while you attempt to save one,"

_So, this was what things came down to? An _equation? Cole walked closer to his teacher. "I'll compromise with you, Sensei. I don't report anything to you, but when I'm making a strategy I'll keep his information in mind. It means that you'll have to trust my judgement and follow any decision I make. But it is a win-win solution because we can still stop the group and I won't be betraying Kai. The last thing he deserves is betrayal,"

"A compromise? You've learnt well, Cole- your ability to negotiate has improved." Sensei Wu bowed his head. "That sounds reasonable. Very well. Are you sure you can do this?"

"Yes, Sensei."

* * *

He was like a ghost. The wooden floor boards made no sound under his feet; the fabric of his gi did not rustle as the material rubbed together. Even his breath made no sound.

_Invisible_.

Silently walking (but he didn't walk; he glided), Kai made his way into the training room, carefully staying in the blind spots of the on-board security cameras.

No one could hear him.

No one could see him.

He was just another shadow in a room full of shadows.

For now, it didn't matter who he could and couldn't trust, who knew what about him and who didn't, because he was invisible. Nothing could touch him. The familiar feeling was comforting (safe), and he relaxed into it like it was a warm coat on an icy winter's day.

This was where he belonged. Watching without being seen; listening without being heard.

(_Skills which, not too long ago, had been lifesaving_)

Carefully, he glided towards the thin wooden wall which separated Sensei Wu's quarters from the training room and pressed one ear against the smooth surface.

"…_I need you to get answers from him and report back to me. You also need to tell me all that he has told you so far,"_

Despite the voice been muffled, Kai recognised it as belonging to Sensei Wu. His teacher wanted answers. Kai's eyes narrowed. Cole would-

"_I can't do that. I _promised_ him I wouldn't do that,"_

The second voice was firmer. Like Earth. _Cole._

Taken by surprise at the defiance in Cole's voice, Kai started slightly, the invisible, quiet front breaking. He took a moment to recollect himself before returning his ear to the wall. Their voices continued to speak.

"_Cole, you cannot lose a thousand lives while you attempt to save one,"_

"_I'll make you a compromise, Sensei. I don't report anything to you, but when I'm making a strategy I'll keep his information in mind. It means that you'll have to trust my judgement and follow any decisions I make. But it is a win-win solution because we can still stop the group and I won't be betraying Kai. The last thing he deserves is betrayal,"_

That was… unexpected. He had been sure Cole would tell Sensei everything… but he didn't.

The Master of Earth wasn't going to break his promise…

Their conversation ended, so Kai quickly left the training room, heading for the kitchen. His head spun with confusion and he paused to think things through, seeking clarity.

(Don't let your mind become crowded or confused. It's easier to control that way.)

Cole hadn't broken his promise. Cole was willing to put Kai's own good before the mission, despite his position as team leader.

Kai gave a slight frown. That was unexpected.

But…sort of … nice, really.

* * *

_-The Afternoon Lesson-_

"…and that's the improvisations we've came up for every object. Except the bread and butter knife," Lloyd sighed. "Cole reckons you could throw it at an attacker, but I think he's wrong,"

"Hey, don't doubt me!" Cole grinned. "I've got more experience than you. I _know_ things,"

"But _I'm_ the Green Ninja," Lloyd crossed his arms and grinned.

"_Anyone_ can save Ninjago from evil," Cole gave a small smirk. "But only intelligent people know that it is possible to throw a bread and butter knife,"

"You can't throw a bread and butter knife. Don't be daft,"

"I'm not daft," Cole grinned. "You can so,"

"How?" The singled, deadened word rang out from the back of the room, halting all conversation. Everyone turned to face Kai.

Cole's grin faded as he looked at his friend. Kai was completely impassive. "Uh, sorry?"

"How can you throw the knife? It is not shaped like most throwing knives," Hands clasped behind his back, shoulders straight, blank expression- Kai's detached shield was up again.

"Well, the hilt is heavier than the blade. So when you throw it, you hold the blade. That way the heavy hilt will go through the air first and pull the rest of the knife after it,"

"Show us," Kai immediately ordered.

Cole wondered if Kai's blank front was due to the rest of the team being present. It would make sense, since he still didn't trust anyone else. "Sure thing, Kai," he hoped Kai hadn't completely gone back to being emotionless, and decided that he'd spend a bit of time with the red Ninja later.

"I want you to hit the space just beside the cord for the blinds, on the wall over there. You see it?" Kai asked, pointing to the far end of the wall which was perpendicular to Cole.

Throwing knives around inside? Was Kai crazy? Then again, that part of the wall had always been slightly ugly. Whatever damage the knife did would be hidden in the mottled pattern. Nodding, Cole turned to face the target, bringing his arm up as he did. The knife was smoothly released into the air, but flew in a wonky line.

Everyone watched in horror as it headed towards Kai, who was standing down the end of the room. But instead of striking the red Ninja, the cutlery slammed lengthwise against the wall, hitting the spot which had been directly behind Kai's head milliseconds ago.

Kai had ducked.

As they watched, he causally reached a hand up to catch the knife as it fell away from the wall, spun it in his fingers and sent it sailing straight towards the front of the room without so much as a blink. The knife hit the thin, vertical rim of the table blade first. Had it been a person's throat, it would have been a killing shot.

Somehow Cole knew that the point on the table where the knife had hit was exactly where Kai had aimed. And it hadn't just been a lucky shot. Kai hadn't even looked at the knife. Not when he caught it, not when he spun it around in his fingers to change grips and not when he'd thrown it. There was no way anyone could have done that entire sequence by accident. Kai's reflexes had been impressive too, both when he'd ducked and caught the knife. Not even Jay could react that fast.

But what worried Cole the most was the way Kai hadn't even flinched as the knife came towards him- or when it hit the spot on the wall where his head had been.

He'd just… seen it coming and reacted. And his blank expression told Cole that he didn't care that he'd just made a supposedly impossible shot. Cole had hit the wrong wall, yet Kai had managed to hit a two centimetre high target from three meters. But Kai wasn't pleased or proud. Rather, he was simply ready to move on. Ready to throw the next weapon, teach the next part of the lesson, make the next point…

… _or kill the next enemy,_ Cole realised with an icy jolt. This was how Kai fought. With cold efficiency. He looked just as blank as ever, but Cole knew he was lethal. Had this been an actual fight, opponent number one would have been dealt with in less than two seconds. Cole was willing to bet that opponent number two wouldn't have latest much longer.

"A bread and butter knife has a different shape to a normal throwing knife and hence a different line of symmetry. You cannot throw it in the same way you usually throw knives because due to its blade, it would not be balanced in the air and so would not travel straight." Walking swiftly up the centre of the room, Kai stopped in front of the table, picking the up the knife as he continued to talk. "You hold the blade between your forefinger and thumb- as Cole said, we throw it holding the blade due it being heavier in the hilt. The reason for holding it between thumb and forefinger is because of the shape of the blade- it only has a blade on one side if you throw it like a normal throwing knife. But by turning it and holding it in a pinching-like grip, it is now symmetrical and balanced. So yes, Cole was correct. You can throw a bread and butter knife. But you have to make sure that if you were to draw a vertical line down the knife as you grip it before a throw, there would be an equal weight and shape on each side. The shape matters because of air resistance. Remember, it is not as sharp as an actual throwing knife. Aim for soft, unprotected vital areas such as the throat of your opponent if you're throwing to kill,"

Everyone nodded.

"Clever," Jay murmured.

"That concludes the lesson, since Zane and Sensei had already done their presentation," Kai said. "You all can go," he gestured towards the door.

Chattering excitedly, everyone but Cole left the room.

Kai looked at the Master of Earth warily when it became apparent that he wasn't leaving. "Cole?"

"Do you want a hand putting the stuff away?" Cole asked, gesturing to the table containing all the objects.

Kai paused.

(_"…I need you to get answers from him and report back to me. You also need to tell me all that he has told you so far,"_

"_I can't do that. I _promised_ him that I wouldn't do that,") _

He had been planning on putting it away himself, but…

"Uh, okay, I guess."

* * *

The rest of the day passed swiftly. Cole had challenged Kai to a friendly Karate Kata competition- each judging the other's performance of a Kata and awarding points. The Ninja at the end with the most points –which had unsurprisingly been Kai- won.

Cole was content with second… or last, depending on what way you looked at it. The placing didn't matter, really. He'd been happy to see that Kai gradually grew more relaxed as the afternoon went on. The quiet Ninja loved doing Katas and had seemed to be enjoying Cole's company as well. He hadn't smiled or laughed, but seemed to be content.

With a yawn, Cole stood up from the couch and stretched. It was ten pm and he was starting to get a little sleepy. "Hey Kai, are you going to be turning in anytime soon?" he asked. Everyone else –with the exception of Jay, who was on watch duty that night- had headed for bed several minutes ago.

Kai shook his head. "I'll come later,"

Cole frowned. "You sure? You look really tired,"

Kai didn't reply, just turned back to look at the TV.

"You had the first watch last night as well, didn't you?" Cole asked.

Kai gave a slow nod.

"And you've been teaching for most of today. You must be exhausted,"

Kai shrugged, looking blank but Cole realized that he was slightly uncomfortable.

"Anything you need to talk about?"

"No," Kai stood up and turned off the TV. "It's fine." With that, he turned and left the room.

* * *

"_Drown and die, Fireboy,"_

_The metallic smell of blood was heavy in his throat._

"_Drown and die, Fireboy,"_

_The cell floor was cold under his hands._

"_Drown and die, Fireboy,"_

_He looked up. They were back. Faces twisting into cruel grins as they chanted,_

"_Drown and DIE, FireBOY,"_

_They had captured him again! Dragging himself up off the floor, Kai weakly stumbled backwards, away from the group._

"_Drown in pain! Die in fire!"_

… _Fire?_

_He turned around. There was… was a … fire in his cell! As he watched, a man came forward with a branding iron. _

_Kai turned around, poised to run._

_But there was nowhere to run __**to**__. The cell door was closed._

_The glowing rod came closer. _

_He screamed._

_(But you can't scream it all away)_

Eyes flicking open (flick knives), Kai simultaneously kicked the blankets away and leapt off his bunk, heading for the bathroom.

He felt so… so... sick. The fire, their chanting, the powerlessness, the certainty of pain… even in his sleep, he couldn't escape. Staggering forward, Kai made it to the toilet just in time, leaning over the porcelain bowl and heaving into it. Acid burnt his throat and he struggled to breathe.

He could still feel the burn-

No.

Still taste the smell of blood…

Trembling, Kai stood up, his stomach finally empty. He rinsed his mouth out, wincing as the water flowed down his dry throat.

"Kai?"

Leaping in fright, Kai picked up the nearest weapon- a toothbrush-and looked at the doorway.

Cole stood there, looking both startled and concerned. "Are you okay?"

Lloyd appeared next to him and Zane looked in as well.

Feeling cornered, Kai griped his toothbrush tightly. "I'm fine," he said coldly.

Cole gave Zane and Lloyd a small, friendly push. "You guys go back to bed," grudgingly, the two obeyed. "C'mon, Kai," he gestured back to the bunkroom.

Kai shook his head. He was not going back to sleep. Not after that. "No," he hadn't even wanted to go to sleep in the first place.

"Let's go to the living room," Cole suggested gently. "You don't have to go back to sleep, okay?"

Kai didn't move.

"It's alright Kai," Cole walked into the bathroom, soothingly wrapping an arm around his friend. "You're safe," he said, guiding his friend out of the bathroom and towards the lounge.

Kai walked silently, not saying anything.

_They had come back_.

_He would be captured again._

He was not safe!

They had been about to… to brand him again-

(Smoke twisting)

(Drowning in fire)

(Orange glow of the rod as it was pressed onto skin)

"Burns," he whispered numbly.

He wished he was numb. That he could feel nothing. No pain, no terror, no powerlessness…

… But that would also mean no laughter, no trust, no hope. (But sometimes it felt like those things didn't exist anyway)

Sitting on the couch next to him, (how had they gotten to the lounge? He didn't remember that) Cole looked at him curiously. "What burns, Kai?"

Burns.

(Destroys)

_Agony_.

"The... brandin…" he trailed off, unwilling to explain.

They had being going to-

He felt sick.

"Stay with me Kai. It's okay. I'm here," Sensing his friend needed support, Cole wrapped both arms around him. Kai was shaking. "Relax,"

"They, they," Kai tried to start again, but couldn't finish. Tears began to gather in his eyes, blurring his vision and he hastily swiped them away.

"It wasn't real," Cole whispered. "It didn't happen,"

"But it did before, and what if, what if-"

What if it had been?

What if history had repeated all over again?

He'd be trapped there, with no hope for escape (he'd been lucky last time) and they would control him and he would be in agony and they'd keep killing and growing and taunting and manipulating and teasing and, and , and…

Bloodfirepainhopelessnessbloodfirepainhopelessness.

Tears ran down his face.

(_Blood ran down his forearm_)

Sobbing now, Kai stared at the floor with pained eyes.

"Don't think about it," he heard Cole say.

But his voice was a long way away and the floor seemed to be sucking him down, down, down into places he would rather _not _revisit and forcing him to relive events he would rather _not_ remember.

The cell floor had been covered in blood. He could still recall leaning on it, the moonlight seeping in through the barred window, turning the growing puddle an unusual, dark shade. It had sort of glinted; shone, almost in the pale light.

It had been oddly pretty, in a sick, twisted way. The light glinting, that was. Not the (_his_) blood.

He remembered slowly getting colder. The pain had increased, and so had the cold.

He thought that the cold was meant to numb the pain. But it hadn't.

(_Nothing_ seemed to numb the pain).

That night had seemed to last forever.

It had been so… cold.

Hurt so much.

He had wondered if he would die that night. In fact, he had been sure he would. With the moonlight glinting on his blood being the last thing he saw and coldness and despair being the last things he felt.

For someone who had led such a bold, energetic life, it seemed to be a disappointing way to die. (He didn't _want_ to die) He'd always hoped to go down in a blaze of glory. One last heroic stand. Saving people who couldn't save themselves.

But he had been the one who couldn't save himself that time. And nothing else was going to save him, either. There was no one there. Even the moon had been far away; free outside the cell window. It could come and go as it pleased, while he remained trapped.

He didn't think he'd see the dawn break that night.

Numbly (but he could still feel _everything: paintearshurthopeless_- how did _that_ work?), he registered more tears running down his face.

"Kai, I'm here," Cole said.

Kai tore his gaze away from the floor and looked at Cole anxiously. Sensing his friend's distress, Cole gently pulled Kai closer.

Kai remained tense. He wanted… he needed…

The trembling Ninja leaned into the embrace, burying his face on Cole's shoulder just like he had that morning. "Don't go," his voice was thick with tears.

"I'm not going anywhere," Cole said, bringing one hand up to gently stroke the back of Kai's head. "See? I'm still here,"

Kai drew in a shaky breath.

"Go to sleep," Cole murmured. "You need it,"

"No," Kai shook his head, but the movement lacked strength. "Please, no," he pleaded weakly, tears still running down his face.

"You'll break if you keep going like this," Cole replied. (Kai had already broken inside. And now the jagged edges of his shattered soul were piercing through the cold front; destroying _everything that was left_ from the inside.) He'd never heard Kai plead before.

"I _can't_ sleep. It'll all come back," Kai gave another choked sob and leant further into Cole, craving the support.

"That was then, Kai. This is now. It's over now. You're safe,"

"But, but…" Kai's trembling increased.

"Just try closing your eyes, okay?"

Kai remained edgy, hands gripping the shoulders of Cole's pyjamas tightly. "You won't go?"

_You won't leave me?_

Cole shook his head, surprised at Kai's sudden clinginess. This wasn't a side Cole had seen before. Just as day had turned into night, Kai had gone from cold to completely dependent (completely _vulnerable_). For the second time that day, Cole wondered just how fragile (broken) he really was underneath the detached shield. "I'll stay here for as long as you need me," he promised, heartbroken at seeing Kai like this.

This was not the Ninja who caught and threw cutlery with blinding, deadly accuracy. Not the Ninja who taught the team (_including Sensei_) different ways of fighting and how to target the unprotected, vital areas of an opponent with common household items.

This was the person The Puppeteers had created. Someone broken, hurt. Someone in desperate need of comfort and support. Who needed to be held and reassured.

Who was made of _glass_.

Kai was silent, his flow of tears gradually slowing. It was another few minutes before he hesitantly queried, "You don't mind?" his voice had all the strength of a snowflake on a _hot_, sunny day.

"What did I say?" Cole asked with a reassuring smile. "I'll stay here for as long as you need me,"

Kai nodded. "Thanks," he replied, his head still resting on Cole's shoulder. Cole's hand continued to rub his head in a soothing motion and he gave a small, tired yawn.

He was soon fast asleep.

* * *

"_Lying beside you;  
Listening to you breathe.  
The light that flows inside of you,  
Burns inside of me.__**"**_

'_**Understanding'**_

* * *

**No slash intended. **

**And, yes, it is possible to throw a bread and butter knife- I do. (… haha I'm a wannabe Ninja, and proud of it! I'm not very accurate, though…). My friend thinks I'm nuts. She's probably right. xD**

Thanks for reading! :)


	11. Death

**A/N:** Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed for reviewing! Your comments and enthusiasm for this story are all so inspirational! :)

**Warning:** violence, death and mentions of torture.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ninjago or Star Wars the Clone Wars.

* * *

"**Anything that can go wrong will."**

_(Moral from the _Star Wars the Clone Wars_ episode: 'Counterattack')_

* * *

Half an hour later, Cole was close to falling asleep himself. But at the same time, he was not about to leave Kai. Not to get a pillow, not to get a drink. Not for anything.

Kai shouldn't be left alone.

He was just too fragile.

Fragile like summer flowers in winter, or the morning frost on a twig.

Looking at his tearstained face, Cole was willing to bet that this was the first 'decent' sleep Kai had gotten in ages. But by 'decent', he meant 'uninterrupted'. Even while asleep, he was still tense; face creased into lines that showed even sleep didn't give him the rest he needed.

Cole was just thankful that he seemed to be sleeping a little easier now.

"What are you doing up so late? You're not on the next shift!" Jay stuck his head in the doorway and grinned, looking unusually cheerful for someone who had stayed up for five hours.

Cole nodded at Kai's sleeping form, which was still in his arms. "We came to sleep in here. There was a small panic in the bunkroom," he whispered, careful not to wake his friend.

"Oh," Jay nodded, some of his upbeat attitude seeming to disappear with the movement. He clearly understood what Cole meant. "That's not good,"

"No," Cole sighed softly. "Who's on watch next? I forgot,"

"Zane. Poor guy," Jay gave another grin, clearly showing that he did not envy the Master of Ice.

"You both get to sleep in, though," Cole replied.

Jay's grin widened at the words 'sleep in'. "I know. I can't wait! Anyway, I'm off to bed now, so catch you later, Cole,"

"Yeah, see ya-"Cole had just finished speaking when an alarm began to wail. "What is-?"

Kai sat bolt upright, eyes wide as the sudden noise woke him.

"Easy, Kai," Cole smiled. "I'm still here,"

Jay groaned at the alarm. "There goes my sleep in. There's an attack in Ninjago City. Someone's calling us for help," leaving the room, the Master of Lightening ran down the hallway and began to wake the rest of the team. "Everyone up! Let's go!" he bellowed. "We have a situation, people!"

Kai looked worried.

"It's okay, Kai. We'll go check this out," Cole nodded, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. "C'mon, we've gotta head for the bridge."

* * *

"There's been an explosion in the reception area of the Ninjago City bank," Nay reported with a small yawn as she began to type into the keyboard, bringing up brief report of the damage. "The offenders are still there and the Police need our help to capture them. No civilians were caught up in the blast, though. The Bank wasn't open at this time of night. Which is good as it will make things much easier for us," She blinked blearily. "Argh, why'd it have to be in the middle of a night when I didn't have watch duty?"

Jay joined her at the controls; turning the ship's engines on and bringing it around in the direction of Ninjago City. "Well, at least I was already awake," Jay grinned. "Since I'm already dressed and armed, you lot had better go get ready," he said with a nod to the rest of the team. "Except you, Lloyd. You need to stay here with Sensei and be our backup if anything goes wrong. Oh and Zane, bring your falcon. We may need an eye in the sky,"

Cole looked at Kai. Despite his rude awakening, he seemed to be alright and didn't look too worried at the idea of heading towards trouble. Cole made a mental note to keep an eye on him, though. They still didn't know who was behind his attack, but there was a good chance that it was The Puppeteers.

* * *

Once everyone was dressed and armed, they gathered back in the control room.

"ETA ten minutes," Jay warned.

Cole grinned confidently. "Just enough time for me to make up a plan on the fly. Nya, could you bring up a map of the bank?"

"I've got it," the dark haired girl nodded, gesturing to the screen.

Cole pointed up at a large section of the building. "The bomb was detonated in the reception area. No attempt has been made to open the vault, so apparently the offenders were not after money. Zane, you need to head to what is left of the reception area and extinguish the fire. We don't want it spreading,"

"Understood, Cole," the Nindroid nodded.

"Good," Cole gave a brief smile before turning back to the map. "Jay and Nya, we need you to go after any remaining offenders. Capture them, but don't use lethal force unless you absolutely have to. I want them alive. We don't kill needlessly,"

"You've got it boss,"

"Understood, Cole,"

"Kai and I will report to the police and see if there's anything they want us to do. We may need to look for motives behind the attack," Cole finished, pleased with the plan. If the offenders were The Puppeteers, then Kai wouldn't be dealing with them directly. Plus, Cole would be able to keep an eye on him. "Any objections?" Cole asked. There were none, so he grinned. "Let's head out, then,"

"NINJAGO!"

* * *

_-The Bank, Ninjago City; 1:55am-_

"This is Cole. All Teams please report in, over,"

"_This is Zane reporting. I have reached the reception area and the fire will soon be under control_. _Over,"_

"_This is Jay reporting in. Nya and I have found one of the criminals. We're going after him now_, _over,"_

"_This is Sensei Wu. We have a live feed from the Falcon, who is in 'night vision mode' and currently scanning the Bank and the surrounding area. Lloyd and I'll be your 'eye in the sky' and let you know if we see anything out of place_, _over,"_

"Good work guys." Cole answered into his radio. "Kai and I can see the police car down the road under a street lamp. We're going to talk to them now. Keep us posted. Until then, over and out,"

"Cole,"

"What is it, Kai?" Cole asked, turning to look at his friend. Kai had gone stiff. "Hey, don't worry. We'll stick together,"

But Kai was not stiff with fear. His eyes were cold; heartless. Taking everything in and processing it, but not letting anything out. Cole was reminded of that morning, when he had seen Kai do exactly the same thing. But his eyes hadn't been so harsh then. Hadn't been heartless. Hadn't been cold. They had been more like the fragile bud of a flower; slowly growing as what was left of the winter melted away.

Now, they were like the eyes of a _killer_. The winter had returned, as harsh (as _chilling_) as before.

"Don't approach the police car," Kai ordered as he eyed it down the street.

He was sure that-

_Police car._

But no Police at the scene of the crime. They were all still in the car.

Their uniforms were visible. But their faces weren't.

-Something was out of place.

_(Deception.) _

_(Manipulation_.)

_(Control.)_

_The Puppeteers. _

This was how they worked.

(_Mind games_)

It was a trap.

Kai swore.

Cole was taken aback._ This_ was the Ninja he had being holding in his arms, convincing to go to sleep three hours ago? "Why? They'll need us to check in with them,"

"Those are _not_ the Police," Kai's eyes narrowed. He pulled Cole back, away from the road and behind a small pile of rubble. In this position, they'd be sheltered from the eyes of anyone on the street.

"Kai, what's-?"

"Think about it," Kai cut in, his voice a harsh whisper. "There's been an explosion. Why are 'the Police' not going through the rubble looking for clues? Why are they not investigating? Why is there no yellow tape when this place is one big hazard? Why are they sitting in their car on the side of the road waiting for _us_ to come to _them_?"

Cole gently placed his own hand on Kai's shoulder. Despite the chilly exterior his friend was showing, he knew that underneath it was a very broken soul. "Kai, I think you're being paranoid. They might have decided things were too difficult for them to handle alone and decided it was better to leave things to us," Cole said calmly. "It's fine. We'd better go, though," he began to walk away from the pile. "They're expecting us,"

Kai's hand shot out and griped his shoulder, pulling him back. "I _am not_ paranoid," he answered icily.

"Kai, you're exhausted. You're not in any shape to fight at the moment. I agree things are a little odd, but it's nothing we can't handle. There should be no problems," Cole replied reassuringly. "C'mon, we'd better go,"

Kai swore again.

Yes, he was- what Cole had been so _delicately_ trying to say- a mess.

But that didn't mean he wasn't alert. That didn't mean he couldn't fight. That didn't mean he couldn't _think_. That didn't mean he wasn't in control-

_Control._

(_"You belong to us, Fireboy!")_

Stop that!

He needed to stay calm. He could do this.

"We aren't going to approach them head on," he decided. "I am _not_ going to just _walk up_ to that car,"

In the darkness, Cole looked at him. "How are we going to do this, then?" he knew that there was a time to put pressure on Kai by pressing his own argument and a time to back off. If you pull the reins too tight, the horse will buck. Kai didn't like to be controlled. He didn't lust after power either, but he hated to be powerless.

The last thing Cole needed was Kai exploding. So he had to give him space; allow him to feel heard.

Kai reached at his belt and pulled out the Beretta from the previous day's lesson, which was now equipped with a silencer. "We get _them_ to come to _us_,"

"Kai, these are the Police," Cole warned, not liking the look of the gun. There was a line between letting Kai feel heard and letting him start a mass murder. Cole wasn't about to let him cross that line.

"No. They're not. Think about what I said,"

"Well, yes… it is odd," the Master of Earth admitted. "But, like with most things, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation,"

"Look, I'll contact them. _That_ should convince you. The voices won't be the same as the ones of the Police who contacted us originally. My theory is that they attacked the Bank, waited for the Police to call us before hijacking the car so that they could wait for us to approach them," he spun the Beretta in his fingers. "We should ask the disguised attackers to come here, where _we_ ambush _them_,"

"A Beretta? Not a very Ninja like weapon, wouldn't you say?" Cole tried to joke. Perhaps back at the Bounty during a lesson, it would have been funny. But here, standing in the rubble of a bombed building at nearly two in the morning, it wasn't even groan worthy.

Kai clearly agreed that it was terrible. "It'll get the job done. My sword's blade is too shiny and will reflect in the light," he explained frostily as he raised his radio. "Sensei Wu, I need you to get me in contact with the police car a hundred meters east of the building,"

Wu was quick to answer. "What for, Kai? What's going on? Could I talk to Cole?"

"Don't you trust me? Do it now!" Kai snapped.

"Kai. I need to speak to Cole," Sensei Wu demanded.

Kai glared at the device, realizing that arguing was not going to work. "Fine. Here he is,"

* * *

_-Jay and Nya; 2:00am-_

"Hands up, you bag of dirt," Jay ordered, spinning his nun-chucks threateningly. After several minutes of pursuit, he and Nya had managed to corner one of the offenders in an abandoned alleyway.

Reluctantly, the man raised his hands.

"What's your name?"

"Constable Bryan,"

"Haha. Good joke. You're a funny guy. Now, _give me your name_ before I stun you senseless,"

"Constable Bryan,"

"If you're a member of the Police, what are you doing out of uniform, and why are you running from us?"

"What? I'm running because you're part of the gang. Y'know, trying to get away alive and all that? You blew up this building. And I'm out of uniform because your 'colleagues' wanted to play dress up," the man handed Jay a pass. "This is my identification so you know I'm not lying. I managed to keep it when your friends stole my shirt and Kevlar,"

Jay turned a torch on and checked the pass. Satisfied it was genuine; he passed it back and turned the light off. "You mean _the attackers _are in Police uniforms?" he gasped. "Then this is a trap! Where are the rest of the Police?"

Bryan squinted at him through the darkness, obviously confused about the direction the conversation had taken. "Who are you?"

"Jay Walker, Master of Lightening and member of the Ninja Team. Beside me is Nya, the Samurai. You called us about fifteen minutes ago asking for help. Who the heck did you think we were?"

"Members of _The Puppeteers_. It's a little bit hard to tell who's chasing who in the darkness when you don't identify yourselves. And yes, they've set up a trap,"

"Where are the rest of the police? They must have sent more than one Constable in,"

"The rest of my team is dead,"

"… I'm sorry to hear that, Constable." Jay paused regretfully before turning to Nya. "We've got to stop them and warn the others! Cole and Kai will be going to the police car to talk to them right now!" Frantically, Jay pulled out his radio and set the frequencies.

Static buzzed.

"What's going on?" he cried. "Why won't this work?"

"They must have jammed us," Bryan suggested grimly.

Nya looked up, worried. "If we can't contact them, Cole and Kai will be killed! What are we going to do?"

* * *

_-Kai and Cole, the Bank; 2:00am-_

"This is Cole, Sensei. How can I help?" Cole asked, taking the device from Kai.

Kai stood stiffly, arms crossed in annoyance as he watched Cole talk. _They don't trust you!_ Something laughed in the back of his mind. _Sensei thinks you're unstable_!

"What's the situation there? What's Kai going on about?" Wu asked.

A scowl briefly crossed Kai's face.

_Haha! Untrustworthy! La lala lala! _

"We… believe that there may be unfriendliness in the police car." Cole explained, looking at Kai.

Kai gave a stiff nod back.

"'_We_ believe'? Or '_Kai_ believes'?" Wu queried doubtfully.

_Hehehe! Untrustworthy! Unstable! Unreliable! You're full of 'Un's' today, aren't you? Well, that's what he thinks! La lala lala! Haha!_

Kai had to resist the urge to smash the radio. Or whistle into it. Loudly. A bust of static or a shrill whistle would be sure to cut the argument short and help things get to the point.

Well, maybe not.

But it would make him feel better.

Unfortunately, feelings were not his priority at the moment. Stopping the offenders _was_.

So, it was time to dispel the anger and _stop getting distracted_!

(Feel _nothing_)

(Detachment)

(Focus. Clarity)

Next to Kai, but unaware of the red Ninja's thoughts, Cole groaned. _Thanks for putting me in an awkward position, Sensei_. "It doesn't matter who believes it,"

"Is _Kai's_ claim justifiable? Cole?"

_Why was their teacher so freakin' perceptive? _"Uh, kinda, Sensei," Cole said hesitantly. He wasn't too sure if he should believe Kai or not. He had some good reasons to suspect the car, but was so unstable that Cole had a hard time believing him. What if he was just imagining things and being overly paranoid?

Kai decided not to glare at Cole.

_He doesn't trust you either! **UN**believable! **UN**dependable! Teehee!_ The little voice bubbled cheerfully.

"Well, wait… and…and… losin… connection…you…u're… breakin….up…" Static buzzed.

"We've lost the connection," Cole groaned. "How did that happen?"

"They've jammed us," Kai replied briefly, putting the Beretta away. The steel barrel whispered softly as it rubbed against the leather of his belt. "We're on our own,"

"What are we going to do?"

Kai turned to look at him. "This must be a trap. Remember, The Puppeteers want to capture the entire team. Without us, no one will be able to stop them from ruling the City. We have to destroy the Police car- the jammer must be in there. We need to warn everyone else, as well. Without communications, we're blind and everyone is on their own,"

"Kai! There could be actual Police in there. It may not be a jam that's blocking the communications. Maybe it's just a technical problem,"

"No, Cole," Kai interrupted. "It's not. Everyone's lives are resting on us. If we fall into the trap, everyone dies. I know this group. So _you_ need to _trust me,_ now,"

"Can we take the risk that there may be real officers in there?" Cole questioned, looking at his friend.

"Can we take the risk that the_ offenders_ are in there?" Kai shot back, meeting Cole's gaze. The faint light from the street lamps did nothing to soften his hard stare.

Earth and Fire collided.

But Earth knew better than to start a fight with its unstable, wild brother.

It was time to think things through. "How do we destroy the jammer, _if_ it is in the car?" Cole sighed, not willing to start an argument. After all, Kai could be right. Things were definitely getting suspicious. "We have nothing but our weapons. Nothing we can use as protection to approach the car. And our weapons won't do enough damage to the car in the limited time we have,"

Kai's response was immediate. "Blow the car up."

* * *

_-The Bounty: Sensei Wu and Lloyd, 2:03am-_

"The signal's gone!" Lloyd groaned.

"No, Lloyd. Someone's jamming the signal. There's no other reason for why we suddenly lost communications. Everything was fine before," Sensei Wu explained. "At least we still have the Falcon vision,"

"Can we still see everyone?" Lloyd asked. "Where are they?"

"Yes. Zane has put the fire out," Sensei Wu said. "I'll try to find everyone else, although it's harder now without communications because they can't tell us their position,"

"I don't like this," Lloyd muttered.

The screen flickered.

"What's-?"

There was a burst of light and the connection with the Falcon was gone.

"We've lost the Falcon! We're blind!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"This is a trap," Sensei Wu said in shock. "Everything is going down! Our communications, the Falcon… It has to be deliberate. This wouldn't happen by accident. Kai was right! Quick, we'd better get everyone out of there!" the old Master very rarely got this animated, and Lloyd knew the situation was serious.

"But we only know Zane's location!" Lloyd wailed.

"We'll start there, then."

* * *

_-Jay and Nya, Nearby Alleyway; 2:05am-_

"We have to wait," Bryan said, the hopelessness on his face visible in the faint light from a nearby street lamp. "There nothing else that we can do,"

Jay didn't like that idea. "No. That's my team out there! I can't let them die. Our job was to track down any remaining offenders,"

Bryan looked away, his expression pained. "If we go, they'll kill us. We don't know where they are. There could be more Puppeteers walking around outside the Police car. They'll see us and kill us before we find them. Trust your team,"

"Why?" Jay challenged.

"Because that's all you can do."

* * *

_-Kai and Cole; 2:05am-_

"How are you going to blow the car up?" Cole asked. "_If_ we get proof that the car has indeed been taken over by the offenders,"

Kai shrugged, walking towards the gutter and picking up a glass bottle. "I'll improvise. And don't worry. I'll give you proof before I do anything. Do you see any plastic tubing anywhere?"

"What do you need it for?" Cole asked.

Cole _knew_ he wasn't going to like what Kai was planning when he gave a shrug instead of answering as he walked over to a pile of rubble. There were several lengths of plastic water tubing sticking out of the broken wall and Kai cut a piece. "Follow me,"

"Where are we going?"

"To the road behind the bank. There shouldn't be anymore 'Police' there, but hopefully there's a parked car,"

"Just what are we doing?" Cole questioned, stepping around a large chunk of what had once been a wall.

"We're going to cut open the flap which leads to the gas tank. Then we'll siphon the gas into this glass bottle,"

"Why?" Cole had a feeling he knew what was coming next.

"To make a petrol bomb."

* * *

_-Zane, Reception Area, 2:15am-_

The fire was finally out. Unfortunately, so were the communications. Zane had no idea what was happening.

"Zane!"

Zane turned, looking around to see the Bounty hovering several meters away with Lloyd on the deck.

"Good morning, Lloyd," he grinned.

"Want a lift?"

"That would be much appreciated!" he said cheerily, heading over to board the ship. "Do you know what happened to the communications?" he asked once he'd climbed on board.

"Sensei says they were jammed," Lloyd explained as they made their way to the control room.

"Jammed?" Zane exclaimed in surprise as they entered the bridge. "But, by who?"

"By the offenders. They're very organized," Sensei Wu explained, looking up from the main screen. "Zane, I'm very sorry, but we've also lost contact with your Falcon,"

"Pardon?" Zane asked in disbelief. "That cannot be right!" his face fell. "Is the Falcon dead?"

Sensei Wu looked grave. "It is possible, Zane. But we can't lose hope. Maybe he flew out of range, or perhaps it is a result of the radio jam,"

The screen flickered.

Lloyd jumped. "Hey look!" the Falcon vision came back onto the screen. "He's back!"

Zane grinned. "It must have been a result of the jam. I am glad he is back."

Sensei Wu nodded. "As am I. Now we can go find everyone else. Unfortunately, communications are still down. This is getting dangerous."

* * *

-_Kai and Cole, Behind the Bank, 2:08am-_

The bottle had once contained vodka, and there was still a little left in the container. Kai ripped a strip of material off his gi and tipped the drink over it before breaking into the gas tank of a nearby car with a knife and siphoning the fuel out using the plastic tubing. Once the bottle was full, he stuffed the alcohol drenched material into its neck.

"This is beyond illegal," Cole muttered. "Do you know how many laws you've broken?"

Kai shrugged, giving him a look which clearly meant _'why are you worrying about the law at a time like this?'_ "Not as many as I'm about to break," he answered.

"No Kai, this is beyond crazy. There may be actual officers in that car!"

Kai said nothing, just made his way back through the rubble. Cole followed him silently, wanting to protest further, but knowing that it would their position away to any other 'unfriendlies'.

Once they were back on the road where the Police car was, Kai ran and climbed onto the roof of a nearby building. Cole swiftly followed him. The two Ninja leapt from rooftop to rooftop, travelling silently and out of sight from the Police car. When they were thirty meters away from the target, Kai and Cole jumped off the roof onto the ground and rolled behind some nearby bushes.

As they watched, a man got out and looked up and down the street before hopping back in. The whole bomb making expedition had taken five minutes, and the men must be wondering where the Ninja were. They weren't quite late enough to alarm the car's occupants, but definitely late enough to make them wonder.

Kai narrowed his eyes. "There's your proof,"

"Isn't that the same-?" Cole began to ask, but stopped when Kai held up a hand.

"Yes," it was the same man they'd seen in the supermarket. The Puppeteers _had_ taken over the car.

"Well, I guess you'd better deal with them, now," Cole sighed. "You were right,"

Carefully, Kai reached into his boot and pulled out the Beretta, turning the safety to 'off'.

This was it.

_("You can't escape death a second time, Fireboy,")_

_Neither could they_.

_("We'll find you! And kill you,")_

_They'd_ be ones dying this time.

In the darkness beside him, Cole watched as Kai aimed the pistol at the back windscreen. The glass shattered as the bullet flew through it, leaving a huge hole.

"What-?" someone yelled.

The Master of Fire hurriedly dropped the gun and brought his fingers together, carefully making a flame.

He ignored the heat.

Detached himself from it.

This was not the time to be distracted.

This was the time to _kill._

The cloth at the top of the bottle ignited. Then he stood and casually threw the bomb through the hole and into the car with a flick of his wrist.

As it landed on the car dashboard, the glass bottle cracked. But its contents didn't spill; rather they exploded into a large fireball. The whole car went up in flames.

No one inside could have survived.

"What… was… what was that?" Cole's radio crackled to life with Jay's voice. "We heard an explosion,"

"Kai just got rid of the radio jam," Cole grinned. "And broke several laws in the process-" a hand clamped over his mouth, cutting him off.

"This is _not_ the time to celebrate," Kai hissed, taking his hand away. "There's bound to be more," No sooner had he spoken there was a-

"Hands up, Fireboy and… well, _Friend_. You're caught," there was the flash of torchlight and the sound of someone laughing behind them. "Move and I'll kill you. You're ours now. _You belong to us_,"

Cole calmly raised his hands in surrender. Kai's hands stayed down.

"You too, Fireboy," the man gave another spiteful laugh. With the car burning behind him, Kai could see the man's shadow dancing on the grass like some sort of crazed monster.

It was like a scene from hell. The flames, the monster, the death…

He didn't surrender.

He remained still.

_Fireboy._

He was not going back to that.

_Burning._

He was not going back to that.

_Belonging. Controlling_.

HE WAS NOT GOING BACK!

Twisting around, Kai grabbed a throwing knife from his belt and in one fluid motion, threw it at the man's throat. The knife found its mark and the attacker dropped his torch, dying without a sound. Nimbly, Kai reached down and picked up his own sword and Beretta, expecting another attack.

The Puppeteers _always_ brought backup.

"Kai! On your right!" Cole warned.

Pivoting on the spot, Kai shot the attacker's gun and stepped in, knocking the man out by smashing the hilt of his sword into his head. There was one attacker left. Kai didn't stop the sword's circular motion; instead, he just let it continue around in an arc before releasing it. It spun away, glinting briefly in the wavering firelight before slamming blade first into the chest of the last Puppeteer.

"Why'd you keep him alive?" Cole asked, gesturing to the one unconscious man lying in the grass on the side of the road.

Something dangerous ignited in Kai's eyes, reminding Cole of the petrol in the bomb. "I want answers," he ground out, the words sounding like shards of glass. Sharp. "And _he_ is going to give them to me,"

"Cole! Kai!"

The two Ninja looked around to see the Bounty hovering further down the road, with Zane and Lloyd waving at them from the deck.

"D'you want a lift?"

* * *

_-The Bounty; 3:00am-_

It was silent.

After picking up Cole, Kai and the prisoner, Sensei Wu had piloted the ship to Jay and Nya's position. Constable Bryan had been returned to the Police station safely.

Now, the team was gathered around the table, with the prisoner bound in the corner.

"So. That's how The Puppeteers work," Jay began awkwardly. "They're… far more dangerous and organized than I first thought,"

Cole nodded. "They're deceptive,"

"What exactly happened?" Zane asked. "All I know is that the communications went down,"

Cole gestured at Kai. "You'd better explain it. You had a better idea of what was going on than I did,"

Kai nodded. "It was decided that Cole and I would talk with the police. But when we got there, the Police were still in their car- we could make out their uniforms, but not their faces. I was sure then that something was going on, as they should have been yellow taping or investigating the place. So I asked for Sensei to make contact with the car. That way I could prove if they were the real Police or not by talking to them. But the signal was jammed before any contact was made. This meant that our attackers were still at large. It was likely that they were in the car, waiting for Cole and I to approach them before killing or capturing us and going after everyone else. That meant that the jammer would also be in the car, so we had to destroy the car in order to restore communications. Without radio contact, everyone was pretty much blind and on their own. After I blew the car up with a petrol bomb, several gang members attacked us. With the exception of the one I captured, all the gang members we saw are dead,"

"I agree with Jay," Zane said. "That was a very deceptive plan. I thought that they had killed my Falcon, fortunately it was just a result of the communications jam. We lost him for a moment,"

Another silence fell.

"You lot came close to not surviving the first round against us. Fireboy, your friends lack skill," The man in the corner spoke up, a twisted smile on his face.

"Be quiet or I'll kill you," Kai replied. There was no hate or anger in his voice. It was as if he didn't care; the man was just an insignificant bug Kai could squash whenever he wanted to. The man's life meant nothing to him, because he was (appeared to be) in control.

But Cole knew that wasn't true.

Kai had been deeply, deeply hurt by The Puppeteers. Behind the stone wall was a castle of glass.

Was Kai bluffing?

_Would_ he kill the prisoner?

Throughout the night, Kai had slowly gone back to being empty; uncaring. Cole looked at his friend. "Kai," he warned. "He's a prisoner. We can't kill him,"

"He seems to think it's okay to kill _his _prisoners," Kai shot back.

A glimmer of _hurt_ and _helplessness_ and _terror_ in his eyes appeared for a heartbeat.

"Oh, poor Fireboy, still mourning her loss," the man taunted. "Her death was all your fault. Tsk, tsk, you shouldn't have tried to take her with you when you first attempted to escape. If you _hadn't,_ we wouldn't have hung her,"

"They hang their prisoners?!" Jay exclaimed, before turning to face the man. "How _sick_ are you guys?"

"Well, we are called The _Puppeteers_," the man sniffed haughtily. "The prisoners are our Puppets. They have to do as we ask. We control them with fear, pain and powerlessness as metaphorical strings. So when they are no longer useful, we hang them like puppets. It's symbolism,"

"It's _terrible_," Nya looked sickened.

"She deserved her freedom," Kai stood up. The atmosphere of the room changed from 'tense' to 'dangerous'.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the man gave an expression of mock sympathy. "But she _disobeyed_ us,"

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but who exactly was 'she'?" Jay asked.

The man gave a feral grin. "What? Aww, Fireboy, you didn't tell them about your time with us? You didn't say anything at all? Come now, we weren't _that_ bad,"

Kai didn't say anything, but his hand strayed to the hilt of his knife.

"She, Clarissa McKegg, was a politician who got a little too vocal about how much she disliked what we were doing to 'her precious city'. She did a bit of research about us as well, trying to find a way to stop our group. We don't like people who do that. So we captured her. She was in a cell adjacent to Fireboy's," he nodded at Kai. "They became quite good friends, talking through the bars and stuff,"

"Stop calling him that!" Cole growled. "He has a name," he was starting to hate this guy more and more. The mock polite way he talked, his stupid smile and the way he clearly thought he was in control.

"Oh, yes, he does. Twenty Six. Too be honest- and I do hate to be so brutal- I prefer Fireboy. Not every Puppet is a Ninja who is controlled by their own element. Fireboy is quite _special_," the man grinned at Kai.

"What do you mean?" Jay gasped. "You controlled him with… his own element?"

"Yes, you could say that he was in his element," the man paused to chortle. "I branded him,"

Silence fell.

Kai tensed further.

"We also water boarded him, cut him, whipped him- yes, more rope and metaphors there-, controlled him, scared him… the list goes on. Sorry, Fireboy. But you _were _rather uncooperative when it came to answering our questions about where the rest of your team was,"

"You tortured him for our location?" Cole asked, horrified.

(Horrified to finally hear a glimpse of the truth (believing lies had been so much safer) of what had happened.

Horrified to see the person who had branded Kai.)

Kai had been tortured because of the team?

He'd never said anything about _that_.

"Yes. He didn't spill, the _brave_ young Ninja. But you see, you lot have become a real problem for us. When his cover was blow and we found out who he was, we tried to get him to lead us to you. But that didn't work. So tonight, we got you to come to us,"

_("…They want _us _to go to _them_," Kai explained_) Cole felt sickened. Kai had gone through all that for them? No wonder he felt he had to protect the team. After a month of fighting through pain, blood and fire for their protection, he couldn't _afford_ to lose them. He had precious little else left.

But at the same time, it was no wonder he didn't feel like he belonged to them anymore; that he struggled with ideas of trust and teamwork. The experience must have caused Kai to associate the idea of being part of a team to feelings of pain and fire.

And while that explained quite a lot, it was a very painful thought indeed.

"That didn't work. You didn't capture or kill us. You didn't even injure any of us," Cole crossed his arms and ignored the man's smile. All his yellow teeth were on display, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Cole decided that he should be called 'Smiley'.

"We came very close," Smiley replied. "You're lucky Fireboy was with you. He's a good fighter; fast to learn and determined to succeed. I'll give him that- he picked up plenty of skills while trying to survive and escape from us. You all would have been dead without him,"

Silence settled again; a thick fog that made breathing feel hard.

Kai's eyes narrowed. "How does the gang keep coming back?"

"Sorry, Fireboy. I can't give you that information!" Smiley said with another smile.

"The gang comes back immediately after the leader is killed. _How_?" Kai took another step forward.

"Kai," Cole repeated his name warningly. "Don't talk to him. It's not worth it,"

"The strings have been pulled all along, Fireboy!" Smiley's smile widened further.

Kai glared. He was getting sick of that smile. _I know something you don't!_ It seemed to say. _Haha! You can't take me! I'm mad! I'm mad! You want the information, don't you? Well, you won't find it here! I'm insane! I'm insane! Hahaha!_

"I'll kill you," Kai said grimly. "Unless you talk now,"

_I'm mad! I'm insane! Yay for me!_

"Oh, c'mon. You just don't understand the metaphors, do you? Fireboy," Smiley mocked, "_To understand, you must look deeper- and remember that every dancing puppet is manipulated by a string._ And someone has been pulling the strings all along,"

_Hahaha! You can't take it from me! I'm madmadmad!_

"Tell us!" Kai suddenly shouted.

Lloyd and Nya flinched. Sensei Wu raised his teacup and took a sip. Zane frowned thoughtfully.

Cole stiffened.

Kai stepped forward.

The man's eyes glinted; a mix of emotions reflecting in their depths.

_Power._

_Destruction._

"No… that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" Smiley said smoothly.

Like honey slipping off a hot spoon.

Poisoned honey.

Looking all golden and sweet and polite on the outside.

(But deadly inside.)

"Kai. Let's go somewhere else," Cole instructed. Things were getting out of hand- fast. Slowly, the Master of Earth approached his friend, laying a careful hand on his shoulder. "Follow me,"

Kai paused.

(_It's simply death_)

Nodded.

(_Breaking of flames_)

Smiled at Cole.

(_Darkness of drowning_)

Allowed himself to be led away.

(He _hated_ death)

Walked towards the door.

(_Hated watching lives be taken_)

One foot in front of the other.

(Hated _taking_ lives)

Boots brushing over polished wood.

(_Life shouldn't be destroyed_.)

Cole heaved a sigh of relief as Kai decided to cooperate. They reached the door when Kai paused. Suddenly, he spun away, as swift as a snake. The Master of Earth tried to grab him, but he was too fast.

So was the knife; in Kai's hand one moment, dancing across the room the next and finally embedding itself in the man's chest.

(_It's simply death_)

(But it _wasn't simply death_. There was a tangled network of emotions- knotting over and over and around each other like strings in a spider's web (a web of lies)- a web of conflict woven underneath the surface.

Nothing is as it seems.

Look deeper,

Deeper,

Deeper.

Underneath the surface, you now that _nothing _is as it seems.

_Conflict_. Death wasn't straightforward. Wasn't simple. _Conflict_.

If he hadn't killed this person, others would die. Possibly including himself.

Yet this was one more life he had sent to the grave.

But he hated death. And this man had brought death to far too many people.)

Smiley paused and spluttered awkwardly. "Resurrection." he mused, eyes closing.

(_It's simply death_).

Red began to stain his shirt. "We will be back,"

(_Like fire and blood and death and death and death and_)

One last breath escaped his lips. "Twenty Six."

(_It's simply death_)

He died.

(_It's simply death!)_

"Kai!" Cole shouted. "Did you just-?"

Most of the team turned away, eyes downcast.

Kai stood in the doorway. He didn't look regretful.

Because he _wasn't_ regretful.

Some people didn't deserve their life.

_(IT'S __**SIMPLY**__ DEATH! The breaking of fire, the solitude of headstones, the silence of a graveyard, the darkness of drowning. __**Nothing more!)**_

And that man had been one of them. He deserved death! (Or so Kai told himself).

(Nothing more!)

Beside him, Cole looked away and closed his eyes tiredly. Just as Kai had appeared to be slowly recovering, regaining trust, seeking comfort…

… _this_ had happened.

_Please don't let him be gone._

* * *

**And now, ladies and gents, the author has worked herself into a really tight corner. Stand by for the next update where she tries to get herself **_and_** the characters **and** the plot out of this mess.**

**Because it's going to be interesting. **

**Maybe. **

**BTW, I have never made a petrol bomb- Kai's improvisation is the result of internet research. Please don't make bombs like this at home. Or at work. Or behind an exploded Bank in the middle of the night while trying to restore radio communications and destroy a gang. ;) coz that would just be illegal. **

Thanks for reading**! Got any _constructive_ criticism? Go for it! I don't bite! :) **

**'til next time, lovely people!**


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